The Dark Chronicles
by The Heck
Summary: The world of Pokemon is a dark and bizarre place, from an incredibly crazy Vulpix , to an ambitious Espeon, to an Umbreon that has serious issues with arrogance. Life is a chronicle and you'll see one with legendary rivalries, two organizations in all out war.. THERE IS A NEW VERSION OF THIS, THIS STORY WON'T BE UPDATED. FOR THE NEW VERSION GO TO MY PROFILE
1. The Beginning: Getting Caught

READ THIS BEFORE YOU START THIS STORY: This is the first version of the story and it won't be completed. The last chapter is not the end. I have a improved version that I'm working on on my profile. Read if you want, but this story is not complete and will not be completed here.

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For all those humans that want to hear my story,I want to warn you... The world of Pokemon is not the place that you think it is. Yes there are trainers. Some are good, mature people. They build relationships with their Pokemon on a personal level and help them reach their true potential. Don't get me wrong, I still don't like humans, but some have good stories. Some of them don't grow to be terrible abusers and most of them see Pokemon as equal partners, or at least I hope they do.

But, sometimes they are the exact opposite. Many trainers are young, and by young I mean around 12 years old. Usually when there are kids that age they can be large asses. I've seen some of the things that humans can do to other Pokemon and most of it is not pretty.

But that's enough about humans, they bore me most of the time.

I sat in the shade of a large tree, reclined on it. As I stretch out I couldn't imagine life getting much better. Since you are humans and constantly want to learn more (For some odd reason) you're probably wondering two things. One of these things is what kind of Pokemon I am, fortunately for you, I don't mind telling.

I am an Umbreon, arguably the single coolest Pokemon ever. I mean, really, can you think of any Pokemon that can stand up to me? My slick black fur ran from head to toe (or paw). On some parts of my body there were these rings of yellow that glowed.

Another thing that you knowledge hungry juggernauts also might want to know is where I was at that moment. Once again I'll tell you. You ever heard of the town of Pallet? Yeah I thought you would. Well I was situated right outside the small town.

I know what you're thinking. Oh, this Umbreon's a weakling and a coward for living in an area with young trainers. Well guess what, I don't fight much. I never did and I hoped never to. Pokemon that live in the other areas around here; those guys are strong, some very strong. Do you know how hard it is to find a small piece of territory? And if you're fortunate enough to get an area you have to fight to keep it and I'm not into that. Here my only competition are roving bands of Rattata, Pidgey and Weedle.

Now I will selfishly bring you back to my chronicle. For those of you who don't know, Umbreons love the shade. Heck, I could spend my whole life in the shade. Darkness is apart of us and we embrace it. The dark conceals you and it protects you in a way that nothing else can. When your in the dark you could be a part of something bigger than you, better than you. There is nothing else like that in the whole world.

For one moment I let my guard down, I felt to comfortable and my rings started to glow very bright.

"No way!" exclaimed a male human voice.

I opened my eyes and felt a cold chill go through my body, a male trainer stood less than 5 meters from me with an excited look on his face. The boy wore a black jacket that was tucked into his gray jeans. On his hands were red and black gloves and on his wrists were matching band. His black hair was slicked back, almost like mine, with small spikes at the back. If this kid was going for the goth look he was about half way there.

The human reached down to his belt and snapped off a poke-ball. He kissed it once, apparently he had some weird Pokemon love going on. He then threw it in the air and shouted "Spark, show this Umbreon what your made of!"

I yawned once and groaned, 'J_ust another trainer _I thought.

I quietly swore when I saw what kind of Pokemon this 'Spark' was. Before me stood a pikachu with an idiotic scarf around his neck. What would be the point of that, Pallet was relatively temperate and fur was more that enough to keep you warm. The scarf was just unneeded, totally unneeded.

The smile on his friendly face told me that this Pikachu was either very brave and thought he could beat me, or very stupid and thought that this would be a friendly battle. Either way I was looking forward to sending the goth and his flashy Pikachu running back to Pallet town and help establish a reputation. If I wanted to live on my own I wanted people to know who I was.

"You ready?" he asked, idiot actually thought he could beat me.

I got into my battle stance and smirked "Whenever you say." Like I said before, I didn't enjoy fighting, but I did enjoy winning.

The goth-kid put a serious expression on his face, one that almost made he laugh at how concentrated he was "Spark, start with a quick attack."

Quick attack, as the move implies, is very fast to start with. It's not the most powerful move but its bothersome. Now Pikachu are fast little bastards. They have that now you see them, now you don't thing going. Thanks to his trainers loud command I knew that the attack was coming.

I instinctively ducked hoping he would go for the face. But I was proven dead wrong when a foot slammed into my face. My head went straight up in the air so fast my front legs followed. Before I knew it another blow whacked me in the gut.

I rolled in a full circle and landed on my rear-end looking dazed like an idiot. '_Ow'_

The goth kid pumped his fist like he had already won "Good hit Spark"

The Pikachu turned to his trainer and gave a salute '_What a douche' _I thought

_'I can't lose to these dolts'_ (Yeah I made up a word, or at least I thought I did) I thought as my vision re-focused. I started to focus my energy, something that few Pokemon can do. As I sat there a small, but very concentrated ball of dark energy started the form before me. I smiled as my glance switch to Spark "Go get 'im"

The Pikachu suddenly realized what had happened, but was too late. The dark ball crashed into the Pikachu with a dark explosive sound and he screamed in pain as his fur was singed by the ball of pure power.

Sure that I had just won this fight in one move. I happily trotted over to the Pikachu and looked down on him. He was breathing hard and looking at me with an angry look of his face.

I cocked my head and said "Your lucky I didn't make that ball larger."

Now if you wanted to stop here you could say that I kicked those two idiots straight back to Pallet and returned to my shady spot. I could say that I won, but then I would be lying.

I got way to cocky and placed my front paws on the Pikachu's chest and was about to say something when the trainer gave the command that sealed my fate

'Spark, use Thunder-wave."

The Pikachu's red cheeks ejected electricity and a wave of that same electricity ran through me. I felt my muscles tighten and my body freeze. My eyes went wide and my mouth was stuck open. My paws were still on Spark, but his expression was now a satisfied smile.

The goth kid expanded a poke-ball said "Poke-ball go!" and lobbed it at me. The metal device hit me right in-between the eyes and opened.

The last thing I saw before I got suck in was Sparks cocky face smiling back at me with his stupid unneeded blue scarf.

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Well, there goes chapter one, and I think it was a good start. I'll get the next one up soon.


	2. The Beginning: Meeting the Crew

Okay the old version of this chapter was super short so I went back and fleshed it out more.

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"I can't believe it." I said sitting in the poke-ball completely flabbergasted "I frickin lost."

Before I could get the chance to get my bearings a bright light (That I wasn't to fond of by the way) engulfed my surroundings and I heard a command "Come on out."

As the light got more and more intense I closed my eyes to keep from blinding myself. Suddenly the light was gone and I could feel that I was standing on grass again. When I opened my eyes I was greeted by the Pikachu with a fashion statement. He still had that same genuine and true smile on his face as he spoke.

"Hey." said Spark with a welcoming smile on his face. Well, welcoming if he hadn't just beat the snot out of me one minute ago "I hope we can get to know each other better."

Understandably I wasn't to happy about being captured and I really wasn't happy that I had been beaten in two moves, and I was really very ticked that I was this kid's first Pokemon caught.

Behind me I heard a flip and an artificial voice "**Umbreon, the Moonlight Pokemon**"

'_What the mew?' _I thought as I turned my head to see what the goth-kid was doing. In his hand was a device of sorts, almost like a cellphone. I recognized it as a poke-dex, something that Humans use to identify Pokemon

"What the heck is that?" I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes at the Human device.

"It's a poke-dex" sounded Spark, his voice was right in my ear

I turned to him with an annoyed look on my face "Rhetorical question you dolt."

Spark looked taken aback, "What's up with you? If we're going to travel together we should get along."

"Don't expect me to try" I replied with an arrogant tone, my personal favorite "I didn't want this and belive me, the moment I can slip away I will. I'm not spending the rest of my life helping some stupid human with his hopeless dream."

"Umbreon." sounded the Human's voice from above me.

"What do you want goth?" I said in a spiteful tone and my teeth showing.

Spark walked next to me and leaned on my shoulder "His name isn't goth, it's Jack" said the rodent in a defending tone "And you really shouldn't be so mean."

"Well, if you don't get off me soon you and Jack might have a problem." I replied thinking that it was smart.

"I don't know Umbreon, if I remember right you lost." said Spark with douche smile on his face "And come on, it's not_ that_ hard to act nice."

I suddenly felt a blanket of embarrassment overtake me. I lost, not to some super-strong wild Pokemon or an elite four trainer, but to some kid that just left Pallet. Hell, I was probably his first battle and I got my butt completely kicked.

With my ego soundly in check I gritted my teeth and said "You got lucky, next time we fight I'll be sure not to play around with you."

Spark put another smile on his face, except this one was genuine as he extended his paw "Well, I guess you won't. But until then we'll be traveling together so I think we should try and get along."

I wasn't sure if the Pikachu knew that he had just said that, but I wasn't in the mood to point it out."I said I would not underestimate you," I turned my head away from him "Not like you."

Jack seemed to notice that Spark and I weren't getting along to well. He walked over to me and knelt next to me, looking me straight in the eyes. It was the first time that I saw he had green eyes, deep green eyes. He placed his hand on my head and tried to pet me. But I wasn't about to take that, with one swift movement I smacked his hand off "No touching Human."

His eyes were wide with surprise. "Alright, fine. It doesn't matter what you do Night, we are partners now and we will need to work together if we want to achieve something."

Out of that whole sentence the only word I pick out was Night. Seriously kid, that's the best nickname you could come up with, Night? That's not even creative or cool. I would have gone with Dark-paw or Demon-eyes, something intimidating. I mean, I thought that kids had good imaginations.

With that said Jack stood up and looked at the path ahead of him with determination. "That's the road to the Viridian forest guys, from here on out we're all in this together. If we take a shortcut through here we can get around Viridian city and go straight to Pewter." He turned around and looked at us with a smile "Right guys?"

Spark pumped his fist with enthusiasm "Heck yeah!"

I placed my paws on my head _'Perfect, now I have to go though the forest with these idiots.'_


	3. The Beginning: The Fight in the Forest

This chapter was hard to write but for all of you action fans there will be more that enough brawling to satisfy you

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The Viridian forest, in a word, was annoying. Every time that you think your almost through it slaps you in the face with a twig or the trees close in around you and block your path. Not to mention all the insane Pokemon that stupidly call it their home. They weren't stronger than all the other Pokemon in the common area, they were just creepier and found pleasure in causing trainers and their Pokemon as much fear as possible.

As me and my annoying new comrades made our way through the forest I could tell that they were nervous. To tell you the truth, I wasn't so calm either. Jack was sure to keep close to Spark and I, he even positioned himself behind us and let us lead the way.

Spark was walking while scratching his blue scarf and looking around nervously. After every slight sound he spun around to look at where it came.

"Did you hear that? asked the skittish mouse , his eyes wide open and his face full of worry.

I rolled my eyes "It was a twig snapping, twigs snap Spark." I said keeping my vision straight ahead.

Spark circled back around and looked at me "How are you not freak out by this place?"

"I never said I wasn't, I just don't react to every small thing."

Spark gave me a look that fell somewhere between astonishment and fear. "Alright, whatever dude."

Suddenly Jack gave out a loud high pitch scream from behind us. For a moment I couldn't react form how loud the humans yell was. But when I turned to see what he was yelling at I saw why he was terrified. Just above us in a tree about 15 feet tall just through all the foliage was a pair of eyes looking down at us. I couldn't tell weather or not they were just looking at us or if they were wondering how to take us out, but then again I wasn't to concentrated on thinking at that moment.

"Holy Carp!" yelled Spark.

I turn my head to him "Holy carp? Really? Are you afraid to curse?"

"No, I just don't like to" he replied , turning around to notice two more sets of eyes.

"Why? It helps let go of stress." I said before realizing that there were now 10 sets of eyes looking at us from the shadows.

Now I was nervous, I had been attack before by 5 other Pokemon max, and even then I just ran. As I looked at the eyes they would look at me. Tension fogged the air as the threat of attack grew.

"Alright guys." said Jack breathing very hard "Get ready."

Spark stood his ground and shifted his eyes from each set of eyes.

I took my battle stance and tried to figure out what type of Pokemon was looking at us. One set of eyes caught my attention, it looked slightly different then the others and it had been starring at me the whole time. I cocked my head and let an arrogant smile slide across my face "What are you looking at punk.

Without warning the eyes grew thinner and I raspy voice yelled "Attack!"

All at the same time all of the hiding Pokemon sprung from heir hiding spots and revealed their species. Spark started to chuckle the moment he saw them "Rattata?" He looked at a small one "We're fighting Rattat-''

All of a sudden the smallest once let loose a nasty quick attack that nailed the pikachu dead in the gut. A pain filled guttural sound emitted form Spark as he was flung back on the ground.

"Spark!" yelled Jack in a worried voice.

Another Rattata pounced to me, it's large rodent teeth ejecting from its mouth. I was barley able to duck under the incoming attack and thrust my head up, jabbing the rat Pokemon's jaw. What followed as a sickening crack and a satisfying thud when it's unconscious body hit the ground.

I looked over to Spark to see him standing back up holding his gut it pain. To tell you the truth I kinda felt bad for him, even though less than an hour before he had beaten the heck out of me.

I heard Jack shout "Spark, use Thunder-shock!"

Spark's cheeks jumped with electricity and his body had a slight glow to it. He huffed once and spread out his hands. His mouth open and within a fraction of a second two solid bolt of electricity shot at the Rattata that attacked him. The bolts hit the Rattata with a crash and the creature screamed in pain. Then the same bolt jumped to another Rattata and it was down too.

"Nice job Spark, two with one stone." sounded Jack giving word of encouragement.

The only thing that I could say was "Jeez, I'm glad that you didn't do that to me."

Spark smirked and cracked his fingers "I don't hate you enough yet"

"Night! Use Night Shade!" yelled Jack

I looked at him with a stupid look on my face.

"Oh you don't know that move? Fine use bite."

I was happy to. I lunged at a Rattata and bit down on his leg, but not enough to draw blood. I picked it up and flung it through the air, slamming it into a tree. It slid down the large tree and lay still at the bottom, eyes closed.

"Great job guys, four down." yelled Jack.

Apparently these Rattata weren't to brave because after the fourth one went down the rest scattered, not wanting to end of up on the ground no doubt.

We all gave sighs of relief as the last one scattered away. I tuned over to Spark and gave him a nod, he was a good fighter.

The pikachu smirked and gave me a nod.

Then without warning a creature burst from the bushes and tackled Spark. He cried in agony as the Pokemon pinned him to the ground.

It was then that I saw what kind of Pokemon it was. A Ratacate , a nasty thing. Unlike a Rattata's purple fur it's fur was a dirty tan color. It's body was in a round , hunched over form and it's mouth was open ready to deliver a nasty blow.

Jack looked at me with worry, he didn't know what to do. His body shook, he was sure that he was going to watch his pikachu die.

My instincts took over as time seemed to slow down. I started to gather up my energy as quickly as possible. My mouth opened as the energy formed in a ball in front of me. In less than one second a ball the size of a soccer ball had formed in front of me. My limps shook from the shear force.

With a defining yell I let the Shadow ball loose. It barreled into the Ratacate with a dark boom.

Next thing I knew the Ratacate lay still of the ground, a dark patch of fur singed it's fur. Jack rushed over to Spark to see of he was okay, and I assumed that he was from the smile that appeared on the humans face.

I was going to pace over but before I could take one step I collapsed. The last thing I saw before blacking out was Jack turn around and rush to me.

_'You did well, Umbreon' _said a bizarre voice in my mind _'You did quite well.'_


	4. New 'Friends': A New Face

Okay then, another chapter here. Get to meet my favorite Bulbasaur here.

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The first thing I noticed as I came to was that there was some sort of soft object beneath me, something very soft. The next think I noticed is that I was in a very bright room, in fact, a completely white room.

I looked around and was disturbed by all of the light surrounding me. As a dark type I'm naturally resistant towards light, it gave me no place to feel comfortable and I felt exposed. It's a feeling that's hard to explain, so I don't expect you to understand.

"Oh you're up." sounded a voice next to me. I quickly turned my head and saw who the speaker was. In a bed no more than a few feet away from me was a Bulbasaur. His eyes had a friendly and comical glow to them, and he wore a wide smile. He sat up in the bed and looked over to me, his red and white eyes scanning my body. "You don't look too hurt, what's your story?" he asked.

"Don't ask me," I said "I don't even know where I am."

The plant Pokemon rolled his eyes and started to chuckle. When I saw that he wasn't stopping any time soon I interrupted "I don't see what's so funny."

He stopped laughing but a smile still spread across his face. "This is a Pokemon Center, a place where Pokemon and their trainers can take a load off. Almost like a hospital." He gave me another look over "How did you end up here?"

I shrugged, slowly warming up to the Bulbasaur "I don't know, the last thing I remember was that I let go a shadow ball and then..." I trailed, that was the last thing I could recall.

The Bulbasaur raised one eyebrow with a smile still on his face "You let go an attack and passed out?" he laughed "Not to high in the stamina department are you?"

"I'm not in shape, I'm not use to fighting t0o often." I replied

The Bulbasaur let go another laugh, this one much shorter but still annoying " You haven't been a fighter long have you Umbreon?"

My strength had bee slowly coming back as the conversation wore on. I stood up in the bed and stretched. "No not really, how long have you been in the game Bulbasaur?"

"Not long, only a week or so. And by the way, call me Razor."

It was my turn to laugh "Razor? Razor the Bulbasaur, that's a hoot."

"Hey" he said pointing a paw at me "I have a deadly razor leaf attack that you would **not** want to be on the other side of. Whats your name?"

I drooped slightly as I let loose my nickname "Night."

Razor cocked his head to the side "Night, fitting but boring. Really uncreative."

"That's what I said!" I exclaimed.

Before we could continue with our conversation a human female in a completely white outfit entered the room. "Razor." she said in a dainty voice "It's looks like your all clear."

The Bulbasaur nodded "Alright," he turned his head around to look at me "I gotta go, but I enjoyed our talk. Maybe we'll see each other again."

I curtly waved goodbye to my new acquaintance and watch him and the Nurse exit the room.

I yawned loudly and laid back down on the bed, alone again. I started to think about my life and what I wanted to do. Only a couple of hours before I was a wild Pokemon without a care or purpose in the world. I was free to do whatever I wanted, and I had chosen to not do anything with my life. Being caught was a thought I never even entertained, and when I was caught all I could think about was finding a way to escape. But in that forest battle I felt different. Spark... I saved him for some reason. I didn't even think about it. I could have just ran right there but I didn't. Maybe I wanted to be caught-

-maybe I wanted to be a part of something.

_'Your really not that impressive...'_

I shot up in bed as my eyes scanned the room "Who said that?"

_'And not that smart..."_

I bared my teeth at the invisible voice. Only one type of Pokemon could get their voice in you head, my worst enemy. A Psychic type.

_'Well, at least you can figure out how I'm talking to you.'_

"What do you want Psychic?"

_'You're not what I want, you're what Mewtwo wants_.'

"What... Mewtwo?"

_'Goodbye Night, Maybe we can talk again sometime.'_


	5. New 'Friends': Rivals Meet

And here it is Chaaaaaapter 5! Yeesh I just keep pumping these out. Time to start something!

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Since none of you have probably ever had someone talk to you through your mind it's something that confuses and scares me to this day. It's something like if you could hear someone's actual voice in your mind and you can't stop it. That's one of the reasons that I hate psychics, they get into your head and you can't get them out. Searching the depths of your mind and seeing all of your deep, dark secrets and getting their grubby little paws on them. It drives me nuts.

I hopped off of the bed and searched every part of the room, trying to find any trace of a psychic. It freaked me out to find a psychic talking to me and it freaked me out much more to hear that Mewtwo was interested in me.

_"Well, you piece of crap, if you can hear me I'm on to you. You're a psychic and I'm dark, I'll beat you eventually." _I thought, hoping the psychic could hear my threat._'I don't know why you guys are bothering me so much. I do know that one of you is my brother and I'm warning you and him that if you don't leave me alone I swear I'll-'_

There was the sound of a door opening and footsteps on the floor (Which by the way was very cold). I turned my head to the door and saw the same nurse standing in the doorway, next to her was a familiar pikachu.

I smirked a little "Hey." I said curtly. Spark looked like he got ruffed up, a lot more than I did, but he looked fine.

He scratched at his scarf and said with a a smile "About time sleeping beauty woke up."

My slight smile lowered at the terrible joke "Ha..." I walked towards him "How are you?" I asked, actually starting to care about the electric mouse.

"Fine, thanks to you." sounded the Pikachu with a smile "I owe you one."

I gave a cocky grin "I did save you didn't I? I think that makes me stronger than you."

Spark lowered his eyebrows, as if he knew I was going to say that "No, I still beat you before."

I shock my paw no "Yeah, but I beat the guy that was going to beat you."

He paced over to me and placed a paw on my shoulder "I guess we'll just have to have a rematch sometime then." I looked at him with an annoyed look and pointed at his hand with my eyes. He quickly withdrew his paw "Sorry."

It was then that the nurse chose to speak up "Night, your test came back fine. You're in perfect health." she said in a peppy voice :But I would be careful in the future not to overextend yourself." After she was done speaking she left, obviously she was busy and had a lot of Pokemon to take care of.

"Who the heck is that?" I asked after she had completely left.

"Nurse Joy, she's... a little busy" replied Spark.

We walked through the door and found ourselves in the lobby, and just like the room we were just in, it was white. I was really starting to get annoyed by all the white. White here white there, white everywhere.

It didn't take too long for us to find Jack, for two reasons. One, he was wearing dark cloths and had black hair, not to hard to see in a white room. I also noticed that he had taken his jacket off, reveling a black t-shirt. Second he was having a heated conversation with a human female. She looked about his age and was human, that's where the similarities ended. He had black , greasy hair, she had natural brown hair(or as you humans say, brunette). He had on all black, she had on mostly white: a white hat , a white long sleeve shirt, and white jeans.

Being as opposite as yin and yang they seemed to attract each other. I listened into what they were arguing about.

"I'm sorry that I don't think your Pikachu's stupid scarf is needed. I guess I should change my opinions." she said

"I'm not saying that you need to change your opinions, I'm saying that you should keep then to yourself." replied Jack

"Alright fine, how about I talk about your black outfit. What are you, emo?"

"I'm not emo , I just enjoy dark clothing." he placed his hands on his hips "It's my color. Like I guess white is yours."

It was now her turn to put her hands on her hips "Are you trying to insult my style" said the girl in an angry tone.

I smiled and looked at Spark "These dolts are arguing about clothing."

"I wonder about humans sometimes." said Spark shaking his head.

"Yeah they can be weird." spoke a familiar voice.

I didn't even have to look to see who the speaker was "Razor, it that your trainer?" I asked him.

The Bulbasaur shrugged "Yeah," he looked at Spark "Who's your friend?"

Spark turned to the Bulbasaur and but a welcoming smile on his face "Spark,nice to meet you."

"Like-wise , but it doesn't look like our trainers are too happy to meet each other ." replied the plant Pokemon. He was right too, they didn't seem to be enjoying each others company. But I didn't really care, it didn't involve me so I had no business in it. Well, I didn't until the next few word were spoke.

"You know what?" shouted the female trainer "Why don't we have a Pokemon battle and decide this!"

My trainer got in her face and said with a confident smile "I wouldn't have it any other way." He turned his attention to Spark and I "Night, Spark, help me teach this chick a lesson!"

The other trainer followed suit. She grabbed a poke-ball from her belt and let her Pokemon out. There was a red flash and out of the poke-ball came a small red fox with bangs going over her face. She stood with a confident way about her and looked strong. "Ruby, Razor you ready to kick some butt?"

"It looks like we're having a battle" I said to Razor as his trainer and the Vulpix stormed out.

The Bulbasaur reluctantly followed "Good-luck, and watch out for my razor leaf. It's a dozy." said Razor , cracking a smile.


	6. New 'Friends': Trainer vs Trainer

Here is the next chapter in the flesh. Anyway any reviews will be greatly appreciated so please tell me what you think of this story. Thank you and without anymore hesitation here it is.

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The sun was setting just over the trees and the day was winding down but the action was just winding up. Just outside the Pokemon Center a battle was warming up. On one side stood Jack, my trainer and the one that I found the least annoying. He ran his hand through his mane, his slick hair flowing through his finger. He wiped his mouth and made a fist, he was raring to go. Next to him stood Spark and I , we were just going with the flow.

On the other side stood the girl, her hands in her pocket and a smile on her face. Next to her stood her two Pokemon. One of course was Razor, the Bulbasaur didn't even seem to care about the upcoming battle. However, next to Razor was that Vulpix with a sort of pink tint in her fur. Her eyes were 100% focused on me, and it was kind of weird to have her glaring at me.

"So." said Jack "You ready kid?"

The girl frowned and flicked her hair back ," Don't call me kid guy, my name's Kathrine."

"Then don't call me guy, call me Jack"

Katherine smiled and took a step forward "I'll call you loser after this battle." she smugly replied.

"We'll see about that!" yelled Jack (for no real reason) He looked down at us "Night, Spark you guys ready?"

Spark nodded and I shrugged not really caring.

Katherine looked down at the Vulpix and Razor "You guys ready to kick some butt."

The Vulpix nodded with enthusiasm while Razor rolled his eyes.

The girl smiled , obviously enjoying the moment "You want to do a double?"

Jack smiled as well and said "I wouldn't have it any other way."

I thought that Katherine would let us make the first move, Jack seemed like the kind of guy who would like making the first move too. Unfortunately for him, and me Katherine attacked first, or should I say Vulpix attacked first.

"Ruby, Ember that Umbreon in the face!" she commanded.

I'm not too focused of a Pokemon, especially when I'm not to interested in what is going on. So by the time I realized that a ball of fire was charging at me I didn't have enough time to react. The fireball hit me right in-between the eyes and knocked me back. I screamed, not in pain (not that I'm saying getting hit with fire doesn't hurt) but in pure surprise.

I stumbled back and shook my head to refocus myself. I eyed the Vulpix who was grinning at her attack. "I'll get you for that Roody" I said, taunting her.

The Vulpix gave me an angry look, one that would make a forty year old man pee his pants.

"Spark, use quick attack on that Bulbasaur!'' commanded Jack as I got up and charged at Ruby. I was a few steps ahead before Spark charged for his attack.

Now, if you've ever seen a quick attack it is done by the user by jumping the instant they hit they ground instead of just running. Jumping is understandably very hard to control. Spark was in the middle of a jump when he jump right in my path. My eyes widened as I looked at the Pikachu's yellow rear end before colliding into it.

As we tumbled into the dirt I could hear the sounds of our enemies laughing and Jack say "Oh my god..."

Katherine shook her head and smiled "Razor, use vine whip."

I stood up just in time to see long vines latch to Spark's leg. He looked up at me and quietly said "Stand back..." before getting dragged across the ground.

Jack seemed to be racking his mind trying to think of what to do next before snapping his fingers "Spark use thunder-wave."

The Pikachu charged up the electricity in his cheeks letting the sparks jump from his body. Then Spark let loose a shock-wave that traveled along the Bulbasaur's vines. As he realized what was happening Razor attempted to get away, but you can't outrun electricity. The shock-wave hit the plant Pokemon and he froze for a second before collapsing to the ground, not unconscious but very paralyzed.

Katherine tightened her fist and looked at her Vulpix "Ruby , charge that Pikachu."

The fox Pokemon seemed glad to attack Spark as she made a b-line to him. Spark was just getting up and dusting himself off.

"Spark, dodge it!" yelled Jack , but it was too late. Ruby's head collided with Sparks side. I heard him grunt loudly and a thump as he hit the ground. Jack sighed as he realized that Spark was done, he couldn't make Spark fight after a blow like that.

"Spark, don't move." he said "Just stay there, I think you're done."

I gulped loudly, it was me against Ruby. '_One on one,' I thought Mano e Chica , Man vs Woman , a battle of the sexes that will be talked about for generations, one that...'_

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Razor stand up completely recovered from the Thunder-wave.

_'Aw poop'_

Razor walked over to his partner. His eyes were glaring at me and a smile was on his face. I knew he was holding back the urge the laugh at my situation. Hell, if I were him I would laugh too. It was me, a slightly below average Umbreon that just moments before had collided with his own partner. Not to mention the fact that it was 2 on 1 and not in my favor and the fact that I had been knock-out in both of my most recent battles. It wasn't looking my way.

Ruby puffed out a plume of fire and gave a toothy grin and said "You're looking pretty screwed right now Umbreon."

Razor shook his head "Hate to say it Night. but I think she's right."

Never losing my winner attitude I stood up straight and said "Don't think you've won yet, this isn't over" As we spoke I started to charge a small, very concentrated shadow ball.

The Vulpix lowered her head "At least, not yet."

Katherine pointed at me and said "Razor, razor leaf"

The Bulbasaur smiled as he let loose the attack that gave him his name sake. From his bulb a wave of small, sharp leaves spun towards me.

Jack seemed to notice that I had been charging a shadow ball and yelled "Night, use that shadow ball!"

_'Thanks for giving away my attack you idiot!'_ I said in my head. I focused on Razor and gave him a wink before shooting the shadow ball at him. The attack vaporized all of the razor leaves that were coming at me and barreled into to Bulbasaur's chest. He gave a yell and was sent flying back. His trainer caught him and looked down. His eyes were wide open and mouth slightly agape. He blinked once before his trainer said "Alright Razor, good job." she placed him on the ground where he simply sat down and looked ashamed.

Ruby frowned at her fallen ally an yelled "Are you kidding me Raze?" she pointed at me with a paw "You let this guy beat you?"

"Hey," I respond "I'm not just some guy," I paused to think of something to say before smirking "The name's Night."

"Ruby, use tackle!" yelled Katherine.

Jack wasn't about to back down "Night, use headbutt!"

I didn't think of anything else to do, so I charged at the Vulpix.

As a great man once said 'Nobody wins with a headbutt' and that man was very right. As my head collided with her's a bone on bone sound rang through the air. Both of us went up on our hind legs and stayed there. We both looked at each other for a moment not knowing what to do.

_'Headbutt her.' said a psychic voice, the one from earlier. I wasn't my brother Espeon, his voice was very familiar with me and I knew when he wasn't talking to me._

_'Just headbutt her, it will knock her out. Trust me.'_

I don't know why I listened to that voice, but I did. I grasped her head with my two front paws and looked her in her unfocused eyes.

"You're going down" I said and thrust my head forward. And you know what, it really hurt. And you know what else? I knocked me out.


	7. New 'Friends': The Vulpix

Another chapter, really conversation orientated but it is pretty important. Hope you enjoy it.

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As I woke up I noticed a few things. One, I was back in that freakishly white room. Two, I felt weak , tired, and my eyes were unfocused. Three I had a booming , throbbing , mother lover of a headache. The pain seemed to come in waves, second after second I would be bombarded with agonizing pain as the migraine had it's way with me.

I looked around the room, my vision slowly started to come back. I looked to my right and saw a familiar face, Spark was laying in a bed. After looking at him for a while I made the observation that he was unconscious, very unconscious. I don't blame him, that was a tough battle. I make a mental note to remember to taunt him about lasting longer than him later and start looking around again.

I noticed that just past Spark was Razor, only his bulb was visible but it was definitely him.

"Razor." I called, slightly lifting my head. He didn't respond "Razor." I called again a little louder.

"Shut up!" yelled a female voice from behind me. I jump at the sudden sound and fell out of the bed in the process. In the battle between hard tile floor and Umbreon head with bad headache the floor wins. As I hit the ground a pain induced groan echoed through the room.

I was tired, weak, and hurt and in no rush to use any energy. I didn't even try to stand up for a few seconds and was completely content with laying on that floor until the same voice boomed in my ears again.

"Are you just gonna lay down there.?"

I gritted my teeth and slowly got to my feet. "No..." I lied. With a solid jump I was back on my bed and looking at the source of the voice. When I saw where I bandage had been placed I smiled "Hello Vulpix."

The fox Pokemon frowned, a large bandage wrapped around her head. No doubt a result of my headbutt. She had an angry look about her but was still a little pretty. She had sharp brownish red eyes and dyed pink fur coated her body "Shut up, and you know my name you idiot."

I shrugged "You're right I do, I just don't have the mental capacity to focus on anything at the moment."

Ruby nonchalantly waved at me "Yeah , yeah, just be quiet I have a headache."

I gave a devilish grin, I wasn't about to pass up the chance to annoy someone "You have a headache ,eh? How bad?"

"Shut up"

"Is it super bad..."

"Shut up"

"Or is it like terrible?"

"SHUT UP!" yelled the now enraged Vulpix. She breathed in hard and fired a fireball at me. Needless to say, I had no time to dodge and the fireball slammed me right in the snout. I fell onto my butt, barely able to stay on the bed. Did it hurt, yeah, but it was bearable.

Ruby smiled and said "Now can you shut up! Your stupid headbutt gave me a headache."

I gave another evil grin "Then my plan worked." I then lifted my head and started to laugh evilly "Mwahahahaha!"

Ruby got to her feet and gave me an annoyed stare, she was at the breaking point and one more peep out of me was going to cause her to blow. I was bored and more importantly , thought it was funny to see her angry.

"You're an idiot you know that?" she said her emotions fuming.

Now grinning wide I cocked my head " Yeah, but I'm the idiot that beat you."

Right then and there I saw her snap. Her eyes were calm before my comment but the moment I spoke they grew angry and wild. She bared her teeth and pounced at me. For a Pokemon that doesn't have long legs, Vulpix's can jump very far. It seemed to happen in slow motion. She was in mid air when her mouth opened and her furious eyes were focused on me . Her dainty paws were now sporting not so dainty claws. My wide smile turned into a worried frown as her paws planted on my chest.

Her momentum pushed me and her on the ground with a thump. I managed to push her off before she had the chance to scratch up my chest and the very important things that were inside it. I frantically crawled away from the insane fox , searching for a weapon I could use to defend myself with.

"You're not getting away!" she yelled. For the first time in a long time I genuinely was scared for my life. I had no idea what this chick was capable of and she didn't look to pleased.

I was screwed , I back myself a into a corner and was too tired to defend myself. I looked into her eyes and saw no mercy.

I closed my eyes and awaited the worst, but it never came. There was a terribly awkrard pause before someone step down and stop in front of me. When I opened my eyes a gain I breathed a sign of relief when I saw who had saved me.

"You got her angry..." said Razor with his back to me "Why , oh ,why did you get her angry?"

I shrugged "I thought it be fun."

'Hello? I'm right here you idiots!" yelled Ruby not liking being talked about in third person.

"Sorry, I don't know what Night did but I don't think it justifies killing him." spoke Razor, trying to convince the fox.

Ruby rolled her eyes "I wasn't gonna kill 'im, I was just gonna mess him up."

I decided to choose that time to speak up "No you weren't , that look in your eyes and why else would y-"

The fox Pokemon pointed at me 'You, shut up." she pointed at Razor "And you I will agree with." Ruby sighed "I just haven't lost in a while."

Razor smiled "Good, now shake hands and make up"

I looked at the Bulbasaur with a look that showed my shock at his comment.

"Just shake." he said , instantly knowing what my look said.

I sighed and extended my paw to the Vulpix "I'm sorry for taunting you." I apologized.

Ruby shook it and said "Sorry for scaring you..." she lowered her paw "but I'm not sorry for this"

Without warning she thrust her head forward and slammed her forehead into jaw. I stumbled back , my vision dazed and my jaw in pain (Ooo, I made a rhyme.) I fell over my eyes wide open in shock at what had just happened.

"Okay" I said stroking my jaw "I guess I deserved that." (No I didn't, I just didn't feel like continuing that fight)

"Yeah you did." spoke the Vulpix before turning around "And try not to mess with me again, unless you feel like getting hurt."


	8. New 'Friends' The Joining of two Parties

Yeah , yeah I know. Really short chapter here guys, but bear with me. Next chapter will be longer and much more story advancing.

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Every fiber of my being was thanking Mew that Ruby didn't kill me. I don't express it much , but I like myself. In fact , I am the the person that I love more that anything by far and didn't want to die at the hands of some puny fox-thing. As Ruby exited the room Razor followed , I guess he preferred to be on the side of the guy that didn't just get their face bashed in.

For a moment I sat there in the corner of the Pokemon Center room , holding my nose and dealing with trying to cope with the headache that was slowly coming on.

I heard a yawn and and dry cough. I looked over to the source of the sound and saw Spark. He cracked his neck and and stretched his arms before noticing my pathetic form in the corner. I saw his mostly plain expression turn into a look of utter confusion.

He looked around the room and saw that there was some kind of tussle due to the moved beds and equipment. The Pikachu scratch at his scarf and said "What happened?"

I stood up and shook my head to combat my headache "The Vulpix hit me..." I said as quickly as possible.

Spark giggled like a little girl and put his hand over his mouth. I'm not gonna lie , it probably sounded funny. But I was in the moment and kinda pissed that I was being laughed at. After a good thump on the head from yours truly the Pikachu grew silent.

"That was unneeded " spoke Spark as we exited the medical wing of the center. He rubbed his head and grimaced.

"So is your scarf." I replied quickly

The mouse smirked "Touche"

As we entered the Pokemon Center lobby one thing stood out to me. Jack and Katherine , the two that just hours ago were at each others throats because of fashion insults, were sitting together. And not just sitting together , but laughing. I don't get humans and it's because of weird crap like that. I didn't catch what they were talking about but I was sure that the goth (Jack) and Katherine (need a name for her) were getting along.

Apparently Spark was just as shocked as me. His eyes beamed of amazement at how the two seemed to instantly make up.

"What just happened?" said the Pikachu, scratching his scalp.

"I don't know" I replied "I'm in the middle of a brain-fart."

"They're going to travel together." spoke Razor in a monotone voice , something that really didn't suit his personality. He and Ruby were standing next to us, leaned against a wall

"How do you know?" asked, or more like demanded Ruby swinging her tails.

Maybe she was still angry at me , or was just like that normally but Razor seemed to expect it. "You haven't noticed, for the last week she's been dying to get a traveling partner." he put a look fill with pity on his face (Also something that didn't suit him) "I don't blame her either, she gets lonely sometimes."

The Vulpix scoffed "No she doesn't, she has us."

"And you're _great _company Ruby." I said with heavy sarcasm.

The fox shot me a glance of pure evil "It's like you want me to hit you."

"Ruby, she's human. She can't understand us, and she wants a real conversation." said Razor getting back to the subject. "I think it be good for her."

"I wouldn't be to happy about being around _him_." spoke Ruby , obviously referring to yours truly.

"Don't worry," said Spark "Night just gets a little getting used to, after a day or two I'm sure you two will like each other."

"Spark I admire your positivityness (made up word) but I don't see me and the she- fox getting along." I said.

"This may be the only time I agree with this idiot." she complimented (I think?)

I was about to say a snappy comeback when I heard the humans stand up and approach us. Jack had a wide smile on his face and Katherine wore a content grin.

"Boy's" said Jack looking at us. "I have some news to tell you."

"And so do I guys" second Katherine talking to Razor and Ruby.( Whoa, I just realized that both their names started with R , wow I'm slow.)

"I don't appreciate you speaking to me like a child Jack." I said , knowing very well that there was no way he could understand me.

"Katherine and I have decided to travel together, and I want you guys to get to know each other." spoke Jack.

"Not that you haven't already started." added Kat (There's a nickname)

I rolled my eyes at her tone _'Not that you haven't already started.'_


	9. Legendary: Meeting the Legend

And another chapter goes up. Thank you for the views and don't be afraid to tell me what you think.

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After enough scratching and whining Jack (The genius that he is ) realized that I wanted to be let into my Poke-ball. I know, I know, your probably like 'I thought you didn't like being in Poke-balls.' Well your right, but I don't like sleeping on cold tile, and I still wasn't sure if Ruby had completely made up her mind on not killing me.

Any-who, I found the fake world quite soothing. Whoever invented this machine, they deserved whatever amounts of money they received for their invention. They are amazing. The Poke-Ball had managed to simulate a field that ran on for miles and had tree's scattered about. The grass under my feet felt soft and fresh , just like the real stuff. Even the scents of nature and the wind were accounted for. I made a mental note to get in here more often.

The moon glowed in the otherwise dark sky and it's light illuminated the vast landscape. The only thing that I didn't feel from the synthetic moon was that feeling of power I usually felt under it. The Moon is the source of an Umbreon's transformation , and therefore is where we can draw our power from. Under most circumstances under a moon my rings would absorb the moonlight and transfer them into pure energy , yeah I know pretty cool.

But even without the moon power it still felt calming and as I laid down in-front of a tree I felt back at home.

Well, at least for a moment.

_"There you are!" _exclaimed a voice in my head , very loudly. I jumped to my feet and scanned the landscape.

"What do you want!" I demanded , recognizing the psychic's voice from before. "Are you following me or something?"

_"Well, now that you put it like that... yeah." _responded the voice in a comical tone.

"Where are you? This isn't funny you bastard!"

_"Whoa , language , and I'm right above you."_

I quickly looked up and saw something I did not except to see. In the tree , just through the shadows... It was definitely a Pokemon and it was very odd looking. The first thing I noticed was that it looked very similar to Mew, but had some differences. The biggest one was that it was blue. It's small body was resting on a branch and a smile was on it's face. On that face was what looked like a blue helmet and in the middle of said blue helmet was a red stone. The creature had 2 tails of equal length, each one with a red stone in it.

I guess my blank expression made the Pokemon bored. It raised an eyebrow and said "What, do you think?"

By the tone of it's voice I assumed that the gender of this Pokemon was male.

"Spot on buddy" spoke the odd Pokemon again. I was about to respond when he continued "I can read your mind, remember?"

I couldn't take my eyes off the peculiar Pokemon, I had never seen it before so I assumed it was a legendary. "What are you?" I asked it in a less demanding tone.

The blue Pokemon smirked and lowered himself down from the tree and levitated over my head "You don't know me?"

I rolled my eyes "Well, no , am I suppose to?"

He placed his arms on his hips "Um... yeah. You don't recognize me at all? I'm pretty big in Sinnoh."

"Well this is Kanto and I don't know who you are." I responded , starting to enjoy his funny personality.

He sighed loudly and crossed his arms "I'm Azelf, and I'm kinda disappointing that you don't know who I am."

"And I'm wondering why you're so interested in me." I said in my most douchey tone possible.

The Pokemon, apparently called Azelf, floated closer to the ground. So close that there was barley any space between his feet and the blades of grass. His piercing eyes glared at me, signifying that he was getting serious. "I already told you, I'm not interested in you at all. Mewtwo is."

I lowered my head until my nose was inches from his face "And what would Mewtwo want with me?"

The small legendary lifted a dainty hand and pointed at my face. Before I could react a small, but damn powerful force pushed me onto my back.

"Sorry, just you have terrible breath. And I have no idea what he would want with you." he said like he didn't care that he just attacked me.

I rubbed my face and pondered whether I could take him on. Under most circumstances I wouldn't stand for it, but he was a legendary and judging by how he barley tried and pushed me on my back he was very strong.

"So you and my brother and working for Mewtwo?" I asked and I got back to my feet.

"Your brother, the Espeon? No , he isn't with us. He just wanted to talk to you," replied Azelf "You know he almost died from Murkrow attack a few days ago?"

"Boo-hew, did he go running home to mommy like he always has." I spoke in a spiteful tone.

Azelf sneered and said "Guess you and your brother don't get along?"

"Wouldn't you know, you are psychic." I replied sharply.

"Well, no. Just because I'm psychic doesn't mean I know everything. Hell , even Mew doesn't know everything." The blue Pokemon mentally shook his head "Sorry , I'm getting off topic. You play a vital part in events that will be taking place very soon."

I stood up straight and looked down on the Pokemon "What events?"

The Pokemon rubbed his brow and looked up into the fake sky "I'll tell you later, you need some sleep and I need to talk the others."

As he levitated in the air I frowned "Hey! What others!" I yelled. But before I could get and answer he quickly turned around and said "Hypnosis"

The waves hit me and the world started to spin. I staggered around for a moment and fell as my vision started to fade. The last thing I heard before blacking out was Azelf saying

"Enjoy the hypnosis, best sleep you'll ever get."

And for a while, he was right.


	10. Legendary: The First Nightmare

I hate bad dreams, and as you'll see in this chapter, so does Night. Please Review, thank you.

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"Sweetie"

_What... who is that._

_"Come on, it's time to wake up Umbreon."_

_M-Mom? Is that you?_

_I opened my eyes and my suspicions were proven true. I was laying in a small clearing, the one that I had grown up in. Over me stood my mother, the perfect example of and Eevee and the only female I had ever truly loved. Her large and caring brown eyes gave me a feeling that warmed my heart. Her dainty paws ran through the fur on my head and a wide smile was on her face._

_"Hey mom." I said nonchalantly. Like I said, I love my mother, but I would never let her know it._

_Her already wide smile opened, reveling long jagged teeth. Her brown eyes turned into a deep shade of red, the color of blood._

_"Hello, Night..." spoke the Eevee, her voice now deeper than darkness._

_My eyes opened wide and I scrambled to my feet the whole time my eyes on the creature that used to be my mother._

_"You left me Night!" yelled the Pokemon "You left me and your whole family... Do you see what you've done to me Night?"_

_Tears started to flow from my face "I'm sorry Mom."_

_"Do you see what you turned me into?"_

_My face dipped "I'm so sorry."_

_"Sorry doesn't fix everything son!"_

_I sobbed, tears poured from my face. I lowered my head to the ground "I'm so sorry."_

_Then suddenly a dark Pokemon appeared in front of me. The only other feature I noticed about this new Pokemon was it's red eyes._

_"Hello , Night." it spoke in a deep voice. "Your life is going to be _**HELL!**_"_

My eyes opened and I frantically looked around my surroundings and realized that I was still in the Poke-ball and still in the prairie. Breathing hard I stood up and tried to take my mind off of the nightmare I had just experienced.

In the fake sky the sun was rising off in the distance. Even though it was fake the faux sun still annoyed me just as much as the real one. It projected heat and light, the things I hate about the real sun and just like every morning it burned for a few seconds on my fur.

Still breathing hard I wanted to get out of the Poke-ball ASAP and after a few minutes of waiting my wish was granted. Getting sucked out of a poke-ball is a hell of a lot worst than getting sucked into one. It's like getting your insides sucked out and then put back. The worst feeling in the world, and very sickening.

Anyway, I materialized in front of Jack, who stood with one hand on his hip as if he was trying to show disappointment.

"So, are you cool now? Have a good night sleep?" He asked in an annoyed tone.

I broke eye contact with him and carelessly waved my paw "None of your business."

The human seemed to sense what I meant and sighed "Whatever, just try to enjoy yourself. We have a little walk ahead of us before we get to Pewter." And with that we walked over to the Nurse.

Then I felt a solid pat on my shoulder and I instantly knew who it was. "Spark."

The Pikachu smiled "The one and only, how'd you sleep?"

I removed his paw from my shoulder "Not great."

"Mmm, weird..." said the mouse under his breath.

I raised my eyebrow to show interest "What's weird."

"Everyone said that they didn't sleep well, you wouldn't of happened to have a nightmare?" responded Spark.

Now I was interested "Yeah." I said.

"One last thing," spoke the Pikachu. He stopped for a second to build interest (Freakin' dolt) and said "Was there a dark Pokemon with red eyes?"

I stepped back ,"Yes, yeah there was."

"Yeah this is weird, apparently we all had the same nightmare and they all had that Pokemon in it" he said crossing his arms.

"Hmm, bizarre." I responded _'Maybe it has something to do with the legionaries, I'll have to talk to Azelf about that'_

"But anyway, we only have a short walk until we get to Pewter," said Spark as he clasped his paws together "And then, we ca fight for our first Badge."

I turned my head in confusion at that last part "a Badge?"

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Get ready my readers, the first gym is coming up.


	11. On the Road: Ruby

This chapter took a while and might be the longest yet.

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I wasn't sure whether I didn't like walking, or if I just didn't enjoy walking with a wannabe goth that seemed to have fallen head over heals for some girl that was afraid to wear cloths that weren't bright, a pikachu that insisted to wear a blue scarf even though the weather outside was fine, a Bulbasaur that I haven't seen take anything seriously and a Vulpix that seemed to hate my guts. It could be one or the other, but I'm leaning toward the later.

I walked ahead of the group, not because of some inner want to lead the group however. Those guys were just really slow. Like _really _so. I cannot put enough emphasis on this. Slow like, snail slow, slow like honey slow, slow like continental drift slow. It was like they were having constant brain farts and just couldn't move faster.

"Can we get moving people!" I yelled over my shoulder "I want to get out of the sun!"

"Why?" spoke Razor's voice from behind me. He shook the bulb on his back and let loose a plethora of powder and pollen. "The sun's great!"

Ruby, who was walking next to the Bulbasaur, fanned away the powder with her tails and said "Yeah, the suns the source of energy in the world." she lifted her head and let the sun's rays bathe her "Even you should get some kind of thrill from it."

I frowned and gritted my teeth "Well I don't, I get my power from the moon. I'm not a fan of hot weather either."

Ruby seemed to suddenly realize something and started to look around nervously. Spark, being the constant observer that he is noticed this within moments. He placed his paws on his hips "What's up with Ruby?" he whispered to Razor. Like me, he wasn't to comfortable talking to her. She had a violent streak.

Razor gave him a serious look as if to say 'None of your business.' He shook his head to make sure he got his point across.

Then, I saw something about Ruby that I didn't notice before. It may sound stupid, but before I didn't noticed that the Vulpix was colored differently. And by differently, I mean she was pink. Before I thought it was just a little pink, like she had dyed her fur. But it was more than that, I could see it at her roots. Her actual fur was coming out pink. If I wasn't so annoyed by the radiating heat I would have commented on it, but being a douche takes a lot of energy. I made a mental note to ask her later and left it at that.

After an hour or two of silent walking we met up with a couple of trainers. Like my trainer and his partner, they were male and female. The difference between our humans and them however was that they looked like twins. Like, identical twins. They both had blonde hair and wore matching blue outfits.

Now Jack being the social bloomer that he is started small talk with the bizarre couple. Soon Kat joined in with the conversation and within minutes they were having an open conversation about Pokemon , traveling, life at home and so on.

But, like most things, the humans started to fight.

"You're saying that your Cyndaquil can beat my Vulpix?" asked Katherine , as if to insult the other female.

The blonde flipped her hair "Yeah, plus." she looked down at the fox Pokemon "It's pink. What kind of Vulpix is pink."

Ruby instantly caught what they were saying and looked down in embarrassment. Her eyes that were usually full of enthusiasm grew dull and lifeless. Like when she got angry at me , she seemed to change her attitude in an instant.

Katherine gave the blonde a stare that showed her disapproval of the comment. "Don't talk about my Pokemon, Ruby looks fine." she looked down at her Pokemon "And don't listen to this idiot." she finished,addressing Ruby with that last statement.

That was when the boy decided to step in "Ey! No one talks to my sister like that." He unclasped a Poke-ball and expanded it "You wanna battle right here bitch."

Now, even someone like me that isn't easily offended thought that that was to far. And apparently , so did Razor. For a mini- dinosaur with a bulb on his back the bastard could move pretty fast. Without wasting anytime the Bulbasaur hit the human across the face with a fine vine whip.

The boy did a complete 360 and staggered to regain his balance. "You wanna play that?" he said in an angry tone "Fine, Gust, Leaf , show them who their messing with."

Two Poke-balls flung from his hands and out of them materialized a small Pidgey and a Chikorita. Both were focused and going to do as much damage as possible.

The girl looked at her twin and smiled "And just in case that wasn't enough , Flame , Bubble , teach this idiot a lesson!" In a matter of moments a hairless hedgehog with fire spouting from it's back( Bubble) and a otter thing with a floaty around it's neck( Buizel) appeared.

Kathrine saw that she was out numbered, but that only seemed to put a smile on her face. She tighten her fist and looked at her Pokemon "You guys ready to teach these idiots a lesson?"

Both Razor and Ruby nodded , determination in their eyes. They were going to win this battle , or try their hearts out going at it.

Spark was nervously scratching at his scarf and looked at me "You think they can win?"

"No," I answered quickly "They don't stand a chance in hell unless we get involved. But you never know, maybe I'll have a change of heart."

"Katherine, do you need help?" asked Jack with quiet voice.

"No," responded Kat with a smirk on her face "I got this."

"Gust, sand-attack 'em." commanded the male. The bird flapped it's wings at the ground and unleashed a mini sandstorm. The flying sand hit both Ruby and Razor in the face, forcing them to close their eyes.

"Flame ember that Vulpix" commanded the female with a sinister voice. The Pokemon let loose fireballs in quick succession at the fox. Before she even knew the attack was coming the fire balls collided with her and sent her to the ground.

Kathrine made her move "Razor, give em a taste of your namesake." The Bulbasaur smirked as leaf after sharp leaf came out of his bulb.

"Stand your ground guys" said the blonde boy "This attack can't be to-

But before the guy could finish his comment Razor send his little minions of death to their targets. Even if they did want to move they wouldn't of had time. The leaves hit their targets with rapid succession and forced all of them to the ground. It was obvious to see that the Buizel took the most damage from the attack, since it took it the longest to stand back up.

"Rubes," said Katherine calling Ruby by her nickname "You okay?"

The Vulpix gave a nod and swept away the embarrassment that was in her eyes before. There was no more sadness , no more ridicule, only feirce determination and pure red hot Vulpix anger. Without even getting a command she breathed in deep and held it in for a few seconds. I have to admit, she did look funny with air all puffed up inside of her.

"What is she doing?" questioned Spark.

"I have no idea" I responded.

However, from the look on her face, I could tell that Kathrine knew. "Razor, back up" she said "Ruby's about to unleash hell."

The look on the blonde girl was priceless when she say what Ruby was doing. "Flame!" she yelled "hit that pink little Vulpix with a tackle."

"You're going down!" yelled the hedgehog as he charged at Ruby. As he got closer I wondered what they were waiting for.

Then, when the Flame was within ten yards of Ruby Kathrine yelled "Ruby, use Hell's Blast!"

Without wasting a moment the fox opened her mouth and unleashed an attack that can only be compared to a super fire blast. it was at least 5 times as big as Ruby and was in the shape of a fox head (Nice touch). The Flame didn't even have time to scream before he was engulfed. But the blast didn't stop there it continued to barrel toward the others.

"Everybody move!" yelled the twins, but only Gust got out of the way in time. It looked down with fear as it's comrades were taken by the blast.

Then the attack was cut off, and ended with a plume of black smoke. Ruby closed her mouth and sighed, her job was done.

As the smoke cleared the Pokemon that weren't fortunate enough to escape were seem. The Flame was aptly incapacitated and looked almost dead besides the breathing.

The Chikorita was literary fried. It's eyes were closed and it lay unconscious on it's side. The Buizel lay next to it, his eyes closed and mouth open, smoke puffing out of it with each breath it took.

The other trainers were speechless and the returned their fallen Pokemon

"You want more?" asked Katherine with her hands on her hips. "Because Razor still itching to deal more damage."

Spark leaned towards me "I thought you said they didn't stand a chance." he said with a smirk. (Freakin' Dolt, my new favorite word.)

I shrugged "Well your wrong sometimes to..."

* * *

Gotta love long chapters. Nice long action-fill chapter.


	12. On the Road: The Argument

Enjoy this chapter, it revels a bit about Night's character.

* * *

I was flabbergasted beyond belief. As the defeated trainers recalled their Pokemon and made a swift retreat I couldn't help but staring at Ruby.

Her eyes were still focused on her defeated enemies, as if they would turn around any moment and strike. The Vulpix's mouth was agape as black smoke still came out after every breath. Understandably , she was exhausted after unleashing an attack like that. Razor stood next to her with a content smile on his face. He obviously had seen the attack before, if he didn't I couldn't imagine someone act that calm after an assault like that , especially if you were a grass Pokemon.

"Katherine..." spoke Jack, his voice cracked "What the heck was that?"

The female trainer flipped her hair with a smug smile on her face "What, did Ruby scare you?"

"No , just, that was insane. It was like a... super mega uber fire attack thing." said Jack with hand motions explain the plethora of bizarre ideas spinning around his teenage head.

Ruby flipped the bangs on her head and spun around to me, her reddish , brown eyes beaming at me. An expression that said 'Beat that' emulated from her as she walked towards me. With each step the slight feeling of fear in me and her confidence grew and by the time she stood in front of me I was a somewhere in between freaked out and 'about to piss my pants'

"Night..." she spoke in a relatively calm voice "When we get to Pewter I want a rematch."

I expertly hid my fear, cocked my head and smiled "Why not right now, too tired after cleaning house?"

My attempt at making her angry failed miserably and only boosted her self-esteem "Yes, something that a pitiful excuse for fighter like you couldn't even dream of doing."

"Yeah, me the pitiful excuse for a fighter that beat your little pink ass."

Right then and there, like in the Pokemon Center, I saw her snap. Her once calm eyes went slanted with anger and she gritted her teeth. I knew I had hit a nerve.

I raised my eyebrows "What, did I hurt your feelings?" I bowed my head, at the peak of sarcasm "I beg for the Miss's forgiveness."

I wasn't sure if she was tired, or she just didn't feel like starting anything but she turned around and walked back towards Razor.

Spark bounded over to me "What did you guys say." said the gossip thirsty mouse.

I turned my head and started to walk down the road to Pewter again "Nothing."

After a few minutes of silent tension my mind had calmed down and I started to think about Azcelf, or whatever his name was. As far as I was concerned he was a friendly psychic and nothing more. I was actually quite surprised that meeting a legendary wasn't more eventful or even humbling.

_"Yeah, usually when people meet a legend they pull a freak out."_

I almost jumped at the voice in my head _'Azelf? Is that you?"_

_"The one and only, hows my favorite Umbreon doing? Wait, why an I asking you when I already know!"_

_'So... you saw that talk with Ruby?' _I asked, kinda hoping that he didn't.

_"Yeah I did, when you want to you have the real capacity to hurt people. Your an asshole to her you know.'_

_"Yeah,"_ I said to him _"I know, it's not like I knew that she would get so mad about her fur. You wouldn't happen to know what that's about would you?"_

_"Naw, and even if I did it wouldn't be right to tell you, plus Mewtwo would chew me out."_

_"Speaking of Mewtwo, how many Legionaries are interested in me? Am I really that important.?"_

_I heard him shrug "I don't know, you seem like an average guy to me. But I'm getting sidetracked, once you get to Pewter City I'll have a face to face talk to you."_

_I rolled my eyes "I'll enjoy it."_

_"Great, and by the way I saw that."_

* * *

Another chapter is down and up next come Pewter city.


	13. On the Road: Pewter City

You humans are very interesting creatures. You aren't even close to being as strong as Pokemon, and you have a odd obsession to always want more. But, you are incredibly smart and as my group walked into Pewter City for the first time in my life I felt puny.

Jack and Katherine smiled as they walked side to side, pointing out various spots around the city that caught there eye. Ruby stayed next to them, mostly because she was probably still angry at me. Razor and Spark walked on both my flanks and it was obvious that they were all just as fascinated my the human architecture as I was.

It was memorizing almost like a dream. The buildings were built from every material from wood to glass. Hell, there was even a large glass building that reflected the bright blue sky and the billowy clouds that were scattered about it.

"This is one heck of a place isn't it Night?" spoke Spark, hands on his hips.

"Yeah, humans are resourceful bastards aren't they?" I looked at Razor "By the way, how long have you known Ruby and Katherine, you seem to know each other well."

Razor looked at me out of the corner of his eye " I've known Kathrine for only a few weeks, but Ruby..." he paused and silently did some math "I've known her for, about 5 or 6 years."

Sparks seemed like this was no news "Yeah, I was thinking that. You two seem to know each other very well." He placed a paw under his chin to make it seem like he was in deep thought

I scoffed and snickered a little "You think?"

"Says the guy who got his ass kicked by me." quickly retorted the Mouse.

"I thought you said you don't curse."

He shrugged and nonchalantly moved his shoulders "What can I say, your way of talking is contagious."

Since one of us had no idea where we were going we just followed Jack and Katherine. Jack had pulled out a map and was constantly looking down at it. Kat was pointing at the map and yelling at him that he was going the wrong way. It was like a scene from a movie, and it was funny.

Eventually we reached out destination, a hotel. Nothing to fancy, but it was nice. It was tall, for me anyway, hell before I saw this place the tallest thing I'd ever seen was a tree.

In the lobby the two humans went directly to the front , of course, went with Kathrine and started to act nervous again. _'What the heck is her problem?' _I thought, still not knowing why she was so nervous when in public.

"She really has detachment issues." I said when she was well out of ear-shout.

Razor grunted to show his displeasure with my comment "She just needs someone to care about her, and after the things she's been put through I don't blame her for keeping close to Kathrine."

I raised an eyebrow "And would you mind telling me what she's been through?"

His comical, jolly eyes turned deadly serious when I asked my question. He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes and said "No, if you want to know you'll have to ask her.

* * *

After a while Katherine and Jack had gotten a room and in a few minutes we where sitting in it.

Jack pulled out a comb tended to his valuable hair and turned to Spark and I "Okay, you two need to rest, you have a big battle ahead of you tomorrow and I want you two to be in tip-top shape." He placed his comb in a table and tested his hair with his fingers "I know that this may be hard for you to do, but try to get along with Kathrine's Pokemon." He looked at me "And Night, try to get along with Ruby."

I scoffed and turned my head, not willing to do that. Luckily for me, Razor and Ruby were in a completely different room.

My trainer sighed and rubbed his forehead "Spark, can you make sure that they don't kill each other?"

The Pikachu nodded and gave a salute "No problem."

Jack smiled and gave a salute "Great." He put his hand down and turned to Kathrine "You ready?"

The girl nodded and put a white hat on, "Yep."

And with that the duo left, hand in hand, closing the door behind them.

Without wasting a moment I nudged Spark with my shoulder "5 bucks says Jack and Kathrine are on a date."

The look on the Pikachu's face was priceless. His eyes were wide open and brows turned down "No way, Jack's not that kind of human."

I sighed "I said going on a date , not going to knock her up. Jack's a teenager, Kathrine's a teenager. Humans like Humans, it's simple science. Jack's got the hots for Kat."

Spark sighed " Maybe , she and him do seem to get along. I just can't believe that they would bring us." He opened his arms "I mean, look at us. We're lovable, well, at least I am."

I lowered my ear and smiled "We are an adorable bunch."

_"I guess you two don't have any self- loving problems." Boomed a voice through the room._

Spark jumped and got into a defensive stance and looked around "Night, did you hear that."

I smirked, knowing who the voice was "Don't worry he's won't hurt you." I said trying to reassure the mouse.

_"Yeah, I don't bite."_

The Pikachu's face went from worried to concerned "Who are you!" yelled Spark.

_The voice chucked before saying "Why don't you look up and you'll see."_

Spark looked up ans almost pooped himself when he saw Azelf. It was obvious that Spark wasn't going to say anything so Azelf made the first move

"Surprised?"

The Pikachu pulled a freak out. He fell to his butt and scrabbled away from the Pokemon "Oh my Mew..." he raised a shaky finger "Y-your A-Azelf!"

The legendary smiled and looked at me "Nice to see someone knows me."

Spark looked at me like I had betrayed him "You know Azelf?"

I shrugged "Kinda, we've only talked twice."

The pikachu looked like he was going to have heart attack. His chest was moving up and down at an astounding rate and his eyes remained wide. Azelf floated down over him "You need to calm down, I don't want you art actingg any attention."

Then, without warning Spark fainted, right then and there.

Azelf was speechless, but I wasn't.

"Well, I guess he did calm down."

* * *

A bit of role reversal right there, usually Night blacks out at the end of a chapter.


	14. Getting Serious : Learning your Purpose

Spark was completely knocked out and it was amazing. I had never seen anyone faint before and I'm really looking forward to the next time. I was very content on just watching him lay there until Jack got back. His eyes were barely closed and his mouth was wide open, a bit of drool strolling down the side. His chest was rising and falling every second with an almost snoring sound emitting from him.

However, Azelf had other plans. The Pokemon floated down to the unconscious Pikachu and placed a paw on his chest "Get up." he said and pumped a psychic blast into Spark. The rodent's body jolted with sudden psi boost. His yes opened an he let loose a high-pitched yelp.

Azelf was shaking his hand "I hate doing that," he looked at Spark "Stings like a French waitress' slap."

Spark was shell shocked, his eyes were unfocused and all over the place. The once energetic pikachu tried to stand but staggered back to the ground.

I paced over to him and placed my head right over him. His eyes started to focus on mine and he frowned slightly "Did... did you see him."

The only psychic in the room levitated on my head "Who, me?"

Spark swallowed hard "Yeah..."

Azelf bounced of my head and landed on Spark. He grasped the mouse by the cheeks and brought his head to Spark's "Now that you see that I'm real, stand up so we can talk."

The electric rodent got to his feet and dusted himself off. His vision switched from both me and Azelf. "So, I know a legendary now?"

Azelf crossed his arms and nodded "Yeah you do, but I'm not doing this for fun." he said "Mewtwo has decided to let you in on our little secret. Well, at least let you know that we have a little secret."

Spark looked at me "What secret."

I turned and looked at Azelf with a devilish smile on my face "Yes Azelf, I would love to know your secret."

Azelf frowned "I can't tell you yet, I won't want to burden you. I'm still trying to accept it."

I instantly knew that it was something very serious. Azelf is who knows how old and has seen many terrible things. And if there was something that caused his trouble it must be pretty bad. But I'm a curious little Umbreon and wanted to know. I let a smidgen of my compassion slip past my emotional wall and said "Come Azelf, if it's worrying you we might be able to help _if_ you tell us.''

Spark's expression showed obvious confusion at my sudden attitude change. I don't think that before that point he had seen me care about anyone else.

Azelf frowned and sighed "Mewtwo will have a fit, but..." he paused to take a breath. He looked down and sucked in his nose. When he raised his head again I could see tears welding his in eyes. It took me completely by surprise. Yeah, I have only seen his once before, but he didn't seem like the crying type.

"About a month ago..." he started "The Johto trio, Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, didn't feel like not being top dogs. Yes, they had some control in their region, but they wanted more. That's when they banded together under Entei and assaulted the Legendary palace. During the battle Arceus, or leader was badly injured."

I lowered my expression. I knew that Arceus was the god Pokemon and that she ruled over the rest .

Azelf continued "We tired to asses her injuries but..." he stopped and let a single tear flow down his face "She... she is going to die very soon." He looked at Spark and I "Unless you do something."


	15. Getting Serious : A Talk with Ruby

Another character building chapter, and also some depth added to Night's character. Yay for secrets!

* * *

The only statement that stood out for me was the last , 'Unless you do something.'. Still tying to be compassionate (Which was new to me) I walked up to him. "What does unless we do something mean?" I asked.

Azelf looked me in the eye, his tears gone but expression still very stern "You need to gain access to the Elite Four's secret chamber." he said getting right to the point. "There is an artifact there, an artifact that will tell us how to heal Arceus."

Spark spoke up "The Elite Four? Are you kidding me? Arceus is dying and you guys are relying on us?" He crossed his arms "We haven't even fought the first gym leader."

"Yes we know" replied the legendary "But, Mewtwo thinks that you have potential. I don't know why, I mean you guys are great but I doubt you could challenge the Elite Four."

Spark sighed "How long does Arceus have?" he asked.

The blue Pokemon frowned and looked down "Mew thinks only a year."

I jumped " A whole year?" I looked at Spark "We can make it to the Elite four in a year." I turned my attention to Azelf "And what do you mean only a year?"

"I mean a year, that's like a second in our terms."

I guess that makes sense. Arceus has been around for who knows how long and must be over 2,000 years old. It's easy to see how when you've lived for that long a year could pass like a moment.

Azelf mentally shook himself and said "Well, I've already told you much more than you should know. I'll be getting back to Mewtwo." His tone was mono toned and depressed and as he rubbed his eyes he yawned "Plus I need to rest."

He levitated higher in the air and said "Night, try not to get killed my Ruby." and vanished in a poof of purple smoke.

I'm not sure if wither it was because I'm emotionally as deep as a shallow puddle or because I'm the biggest asshole that I know but the moment Azelf left the first thought that popped into my head was to go bother Ruby. I think it was because I had just heard some terrible news, I mean, Arceus was dying and I wanted to detach from it.

Spark looked at me with a serious expression "We can't tell the others."

"What?" I yelled at him "Why not?"

Spark put his arms on his hips "I think that if Azelf wanted them to know he would have told us to tell them. Plus Night, you don't have the best ideas."

I huffed and raised a brow "Fine, but being with you alone for the next few hours isn't on my schedule." Ans with that I waltzed over to the door.

"Where are you going?" questioned Spark, his voice having a hint on annoyance.

Without even turning around I said "Going to talk to Ruby, I'm dying to find out her secrets."

* * *

I knew that Katherine had gotten the room directly across the hall from Jack's ( The love bugs couldn't get enough of each other) so it wasn't difficult to find. However what was going to be difficult is getting them to open the door. I haven't had much past experience with human doors. I was able to get my door open with my paws but when I tried to open theirs it wouldn't budge.

"Damn door."

I scanned my brain for any and all knowledge of doors and remembered that most had locks on them. I knew that if they wanted to Ruby and Razor could let me in, but to do that they would have to know where I was.

I knocked on the door with a paw "Hello?" I called.

I was hoping that Razor's voice would reply and luckily it was him. "Yes, Night is that you. What do you want."

I made up a quick lie "Spark's dying."

The door slowly opened, and on the other side stood Razor with his vine latched onto the door handle. "Spark's dying." he said in a mono toned voice.

I slipped past the plant Pokemon and made my way into the room. "It's just like ours, not very original humans." I said.

Razor turned around "So Spark isn't dying."

"Oh no, he's still dying." then a thought popped into my head "Yeah, I'm dying, your dying... hell everyone who is currently alive is dying."

Razor's expression turned to one of annoyance "What does that mean."

I placed a paw on his shoulder "It means that every moment that we live we are getting closer to death, which means we are dying. Therefore, Spark is dying."

"That's an interesting point of view Night." said Spark's voice. I glanced over to the door and saw the rodent leaning on the door "Nice to see you squeeze out of that situation."

I smiled "Yeah," I looked around the room "Now where's Ruby, I want to talk to her."

"I've been here the whole time you idiot." came her voice from above me. I looked to the source of the sound and saw the fox. Her sleek body was in a relaxed pose with her six tails hanging down off the edge and her pink fur glimmering in the light. "What do you want?"

I approached her "Well I wanted to know what your problem is..." I started motioning with a paw " you know, with your fur."

When I said fur I saw her body chemistry change. Her once relaxed form tensed up and her eyes grew dark "That has nothing to with you." she said curtly, keeping her voice low.

"I'm just saying that if we are going to be traveling together for the foreseen future I think we should get our secrets out in the open." I stated.

The Vulpix hopped down from her perch and got in my face "I suggest that you stop screwing with me Night. At first I thought it was cute but now it's just annoying. You have no idea what I've been through you ignorant bastard,and I don't appreciate the jokes. Now I have no idea why you think it's okay to delve into my personal business but I will warn you. I will not hesitate to leave you at deaths door." She looked down at herself with scorn "This freaking fur is the reason for all my struggles and the fact that you can just take it as a joke makes me sick." I saw a tear flow from her face.

I took a step back, having to take in what I just heard. "I-I'm sorry."

She looked up at me, multiple tears going down her face "Screw you."

I gulped, not exactly feeling good about insulting her before "Look, I know it may be weird to just tell me. But how about this, what if I tell you something about me. I'm not saying that you need to tell me your secret afterwords, I just want to let you trust me." I looked over to Spark and Razor, who where watching the conversation with undying enthusiasm "And so that you guys can trust me too.

Ruby wiped her eyes and sniffled "What are you going to tell us?"

I looked at the floor "I'll tell you about my family."


	16. Getting Serious : Night's Family

Yes, yes I know, another emotion chapter. But do not fret there will be plenty of action the next chapter as this is the last Getting Serious chapter. After this one the sixth story arc starts and I hope your ready for it.

* * *

"Your family?" said Spark, his voice was one of surprise.

I sighed, I hadn't talked to anyone about my family before and up to that point was willing to go the rest of my life without even thinking of them. However, I wasn't only telling them about my family for their sake, I was doing it because I needed to except that they were a part of my life and couldn't just disregard them.

"Wait , Night." said Razor, lifting a paw "Don't you think this is a bit fast. I mean I've only known you for 2 days."

"And I've only known you for three!" piped up Spark.

I turned to them, and for the first time in a while a gave a serious face "I'm not only telling you because I want you to trust me, I'm telling you because I need to tell someone. I'm not saying that I'm desperate, but I need to tell someone. I need to let it out." I looked Spark in the eye "And for every laugh you give you will get one good smack in the head."

The Pikachu raised his arms in a defensive position "Alright, alright."

"Well,"said Ruby "you are the last person I would expect to open up about his family."

I smiled " I guess I'm just full of surprises."

She gave a small, almost invisible smile. In the depths of my small, dark heart I felt good that I had made her smile.

I sighed "Okay then... where do I start?"

"How about you just tell us your family members?" said Spark.

I shrugged "I guess that's a good place to start if any... My mother is an Eevee and my father is a Jolteon. My mom is possibly the best Pokemon I know, everything about her is just great. She was always giving and always put her children before everything else. To tell you the truth, I'm amazed that someone like me came from something like her."

"Do you love your mother?" asked Razor. He jumped on a bed and sat down.

I looked him dead in the eye "Yes, more than anything." I refocused " And my father... oh my father. I don't know how a guy like that got with a girl like my mom. He's not a bad guy, he tries and everything, but he can be very malicious. Sometimes I would hear him yelling at my mother and it would drive me crazy. I can't imagine what made them mate."

I paused to look at my audience, they seemed fairly increased "You enjoying it so far, any tears yet?"

"It's not the Titanic, but it's better than just sitting here." spoke Spark.

I made a mental note to ask him what 'Titanic' was before continuing "Now, my siblings. I was the second born, behind my sister Flareon. I think she goes by just Flare now, ever since she became a big show tool in Sinnoh. She was annoying, but she was my big sis so I guess I care about her."

Razor raised his brows at that last comment "She's doing Pokemon shows in Sinnoh, you have a famous sister Night."

"She lost herself in the human world, like so many. On to my slightly younger brother Espeon. That kid, he was always a mothers boy. Never did anything without mom for half his life. Not to mention that we're pretty much rivals, Umbreons and Espeons usually don't mix well. I'm guessing that he finally got his ass up and left home, he sent me a message after the battle in Viridian. After that I didn't hear from him though."

Spark put his hands on his hips "You said that like you were worried for him."

I shrugged "I guess I am, but only because if anything happened to him it would kill mom." I sighed and continued "Then comes Vaporeon, she is a little younger than Espeon and is most likely the most depressed Vaporeon in the world. She would always put herself down and say that she was to weak or not good enough. In fact, now that I think about it, she most likely blames herself for my departure." My heart felt a smidgen of pain at the thought of what my sister must have felt when she found out I was gone.

"Anyway, after her comes my two youngest siblings, Glaceon and Leafeon." I laughed at the thought of those two "Those guys were the only reason I stayed as long as I did. They looked up to me, admired me and followed me around. Every night they would sleep next to me. Sometimes it was to much and it got annoying, but now that I'm not there I miss it. I miss it a lot."

"Night," started Razor " To me it sounds like you were pretty happy with your family, am I right?"

"Um, I guess I was loved, but I didn't feel happy. I don't know, maybe it's a part of me that just wanted something new."

"Do you want to go back, do you regret leaving? I mean, I never knew my family, not that I want to. But if I had one I would stay with them as long as possible." said Spark.

"Well Spark, I'm not you and you don't know the inner workings of my family. I'm sure from your perspective my family sounds awesome, but it's not as good as it sounds. We have some issues, Vaporeon has threatened to kill herself multiple times, Espeon reads minds all the time, my father almost always is stressed out and it rubs off on everyone else." My expression was one of anger as I thought of all the times my father had been hard on me.

"I think I've told you guys enough for one night," I yawned and looked at the clock "Besides, it's getting late and I'm tired of spilling my guts."

Spark leaned on a wall , his arms crossed and expression calm "I still can't believe that you told us about your family, I'm surprised that you like us enough to do that."

I snarled at that comment "Don't misunderstand, I don't like you that much. I told you so that you could trust me a little more and so that I could get something off my chest." I looked out a window and at the half moon in the sky "And that's all."

I saw that Spark's expression sank a bit after that comment, I had hurt him. I was going to apologize, but I had already given an apology earlier that night and didn't want them to think I was just giving them out.

Razor noticed that I was looking at something and jumped off the bed "What are you looking at?"

I ignored the question and walked over to the balcony. As I stepped out into the moonlight I felt invigorated. There is no other feeling in the world that is more satisfying for an Umbreon than basking in the moon. The moonlight showered me in feeling of quiet power. I smiled as my rings glowed bright yellow, I missed the feeling of having seemingly unlimited power rain down on me.

I could feel my comrades eyes looking at me so I turned my head "I'm not telling you anymore about me right now, so I suggest you get some sleep."

"Are you just going to stay out there?" came Ruby's voice.

I settled to the floor and got into a comfortable position "Yep."

And as I closed my eyes the last thing I heard was Razor's voice saying "That is one weird dude."

* * *

Thank you for reading this story so far and I hope your enjoying it. Get ready for an awesome next chapter, filled with battles, rivalries, and sibling strife.

See ya next chapter

~The Heck


	17. Battle for the Badge: Desmond

Yay for new chapters. Get ready for a battle.

* * *

I'm not a dreamer, I've like, had five dreams in the last five years. So the moment I fell asleep the next thing I felt was a human hand stroke me across my head. I opened one eye and peeked over at who had awoken me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jack's face beaming down on me. His face had a relatively warm smile on it and his hand started to scratch the back of my ear "I need you to get up buddy."

I groaned at that line, even though I knew that I wanted to get up I didn't enjoy being told to. I shook his hand off and yawned loudly. As I stood up and stretch I looked at him and said "Don't call me buddy, it makes me feel small."

Even though he had no idea what I was saying I guess he made up his own interpretation and said "Yeah, good morning to you two." He looked over at Ruby "I see that you and Ruby seemed to have kissed and made up."

"Not exactly kiss, but we are mutual." I paused "And why am I talking to you like this, you can't understand I thing I'm saying. Watch, you suck ass."

Jack stood up and smirked "That's good, but get yourself ready. We have a big battle today."

"Whatdoya mean we?" I was completely aware that we were going to go for the first badge today, the Boulder badge. However, since we would be fighting rock and ground Pokemon Spark wouldn't be able to do much, which is both good and bad for me. It's good because it gives me a chance to show my worth and to show Ruby that I am more than capable of fighting well. Bad part is that I'm not to keen on fighting rock Pokemon. Their, well, rock and they hurt when you hit them. It is not fun head-butting a Geodude only to give yourself a big headache.

As Jack and I entered the room it became obvious that I was the last one awake. Spark and Razor were sitting on a dresser comparing their attacks with one another. Katherine was brushing her long brown hair and thinking out loud about the battle. Ruby was leaning on the wall closest to the door, starting to get impatient and wanting to get moving.

"Hey Katherine." spoke Jack pacing up to the girl "You ready?"

She gave him a hand in the face , as if to say wait "Just a second, it takes a while to look this great."

The male rolled his eyes "Whatever."

I walked over to the dresser and looked up at Spark and Razor "Morning."

Spark looked down and let a smirk crawl onto his face "Hey, sleeping beauty's up!"

"About time, we were thinking of just leaving you here." said Razor with a laugh.

I gave him an unsatisfied look that said 'that wasn't funny and said "You guys ready for the gym?"

Razor spoke first "Oh yeah, I've been ready for hours," he then looked over at Spark "But I think your partner may be useless."

The Pikachu crossed his arms "I'm not useless, I can still fight." he looked at me "I just can't use my stronger attacks."

"So your useless." I added "Well, at least you can tire them out for me."

"Oh ha ha."

"Would you idiots stop gossiping to each other and get moving!" yelled Ruby's voice from the door, "We're leaving now."

Us males looked over to the door and saw Jack and Kat (Oh my mew, that almost rhymes) exiting the room and Ruby following right behind them.

"Well!" she yelled again. Her voice had a slight tinge on nervousness and urgency.

"Coming." replied Spark. He jumped down and sprinted, not ran, sprinted after the humans.

"What a dolt." I said out loud as I casually followed.

Razor looked at me perplexed "Dolt?"

I smirked "It's a long story."

* * *

The city was just as we left it the day before, busying and full of life. Crowds of people walking around and going about their days and their own lives.

Jack was messing around with his Pokedex, doing something that occupied all his attention. In this state of mind, he wasn't paying much attention so I wasn't a surprise when he bumped head on into someone. This made him drop his Pokedex.

"Oh, sorry my bad..." apologized Jack,

The other boy smirk "Oh it's fine just-" he stopped himself when he got a look at who he had bumped into. "Jack?" he said.

My trainer looked at the male and his eyes widened "What the... Desmond, what are you doing here?" he said in a slightly angry voice.

This is when I started to gain interest in the situation and this teen that Jack seemed to know. The guy wore a tan suit jacket (one that looked very expensive) and khaki pants with brown shoes. He had golden blonde hair that neatly came down on both sides of his face and his light blue eyes shown in the light.

"Well..." spoke Desmond, a British accent plagued his speech "This is the last place where I would expect to see you." He spoke in a normal tone despite the fact that he was dressed in professional clothing. Looking at him and Jack was like looking at yin and yang. Jack's messy, greasy black hair was a stark contrast to Desmond's thin, light blonde hair.

This new face looked past Jack and saw Katherine "Oh, you have yourself a friend Jacky old boy?"

Jack rolled his eyes and motioned towards Kat "Katherine Beach, meet Desmond Slate, a childhood rival of mine."

The guy extended a hand with a warm smile on his face "Excellent to meet you miss Katherine."

The teenage girl couldn't help but blush "Oh, thank you." she replied grasping his hand.

The Englishman bowed slightly and kissed her hand. "The pleasure is all mine miss Katherine."

"Alright," said Jack, obviously not enjoying this exchange "It was great seeing you Des, but we're on our way to the gym and-"

"Oh you are?" interrupted Desmond "Yes, I just came from there." He down to his belt and unhooked a Poke-ball "My lads and I got ourselves a win,"

Jack frowned at this statement "What?"

"Yes, it was actually quite a challenge, but my duo pulled it off." Then it looked like a light went off in his head "Eh, Jacky old boy, how's about we have a little battle?"

My trainer looked surprise at the sudden challenge "Right here, on the side walk?"

"Yeah," he looked down at Spark "How's about you use Spark, he'll be a pleasant challenge for Jolt."

Jack didn't even need to look down to know that his pikachu was ready . "Spark's always ready for a fight."

Desmond clasped his hands together "Brilliant then, shall we get started?" The blonde took a couple steps back to create some battle space and expanded the Poke-ball already in his hand "Jolt, say hello to your old friend!"

The Poke-ball open and out flashed a red light. When The light had faded a Jolteon stood. It was slightly bigger than me and his all black eyes were intimidating. The instant Spark realized who he was fighting his manner changed, he got very serious. This battle meant something to him. "Jolt, good to see you again." said the rodent.

This Jolt guy didn't seem to be taking the fight as serious "Good to see you as well old friend, hope your ready."

Humans are attracted to Pokemon battles like bees to honey, they're addicted to them. Within minutes a crowd of 15 plus people were observing the battle.

Jack gave the first command "Spark, start off with a quick attack!"

Spark broke off at almost invisible speed, charging at his opponent.

Desmond simply smiled and calmly said "Jolt, duck."

The Jolteon followed the command in an instant and duck to the ground. Spark zoomed right over his target and staggered as he tried to stop.

"Jolt, give him your quick attack."

The electric dog's movement's weren't as fast as Sparks, but when that attack connected it was obvious that the Jolteon's attack hurt more. A lot more. Jolt's elbowed Spark in the chin, sending him flailing back. He rolled on the ground until settling by Desmond's feet.

"Come on Spark!" yelled Desmond, lightly nudging the Pokemon "you're better than this!"

Jack refocused "He's right Spark, give Jolt a taste on your tackle."

Spark got back up to his feet and, once again, charged Jolt.

Desmond gave an unsatisfied sigh "Jolt, duck it and use-"

"Spark, uppercut him now!" interrupted Jack.

Jolt ducked, as expected, but as he lowered his head the only thing met him was a fist to the jaw. There was sickening crack of fist hitting jaw and Jolt was flung back.

"Good hit Spark! Now use-"

"Wait!" shouted Desmond, extending an arm "I surrender."

Jack looked dumbfounded "Surrender, who- why?"

The Englishman paced over to the two Pokemon "I just wanted to see if you had improved" he looked down and Spark and smiled "And its good to see that you have Spark."

The pikachu looked away at that statement, either embarrassed or not wanting the comment.

Desmond looked over to his Jolteon, who was rubbing his tender jaw. The teenager knelt down and softly stroked The Pokemon's jaw "Hmm, you got yourself a good bruise. You want to go to The Pokemon center?"

All the people that had surrounded us before were now walking away, realizing that the battle was over.

Jolt shook his head no "Naw, I'll be fine."

The blonde shrugged and stood up "Alright." and turned to Jack "You still going to The gym?"

Jack let Spark, who had just rushed over to him, up on his shoulder and crossed his arms "Yes."

"How about I come with you?" said Desmond " I would love to see your other Pokemon." he paused for a moment "You do have other Pokemon right?

"Just one," replied Jack before placing a heavy hand on my head "I have Night right here"

Desmond looked at me," You caught an Umbreon? Good job," he turned to Katherine "And I would love to see your Vulpix And Bulbasaur in action."

A blush found it's way onto Kat's face And she tried to cover it, "Oh sure I would like that."

Jack gave The closest thing that humans can give to a growl "I'm sure you would."


	18. Battle for the Badge: Katherine's fight

The Gym Battles begin , get ready for some action!

* * *

"So Spark..." I started, "how do you know that Jolteon?"

It had been only a few minutes after the end of the battle and I thought that I had waited long enough to ask a question. I was hoping that the rodent would tell me, I was quite curious about his relationship with that Desmond guy and that Jolteon.

Without even giving me the respect of eye contact he said "It's a long story that I don't feel like telling." For the first time I saw Spark not being completely open. It was odd, yes I had only known the guy for 4 days, but over the course of those 4 days he was always smiling, open and kind. Seeing him in that state was very odd.

To be expected I was pretty pissed off that Spark wouldn't tell me a thing about Jolt, when only hours before I had spilled my guts about my family. However, I wasn't in the mood for a fight. "Alright, fine." I stated.

"If you want to know," said Jolt, whom I didn't realize was right next to me. "I could tell you..." he shared his trainer's accent, a side affect of having to spend time with that kid I suppose.

I raised an eyebrow "You would? Nice."

"I would prefer it if we didn't tell Night, I don't really think we should expose everything." he turned to me "No offense Night."

"Oh, no problem. But it's cool. I tell you about my family and you can't give me the time of day. But that's cool." I said, drowning my words in sarcasm.

Either Spark was completely oblivious to sarcasm (Which wouldn't be to surprising) or he just chose to ignore what I said.

"Well," said Jack, his fingers in his hair "This is it."

This 'gym' was not what I thought it would be. When I think of a gym, like most logical people, I think of a place where people work out. You know, like weights and machines. But this place was obviously not a place to work out. It was a building made completely of rock, and I mean completely out of rock. The building was about 2 stories high and in large letter's etched into it's surface it that said 'Pewter Gym'. (Yeah I can read, I know I'm awesome thank you.)

I had always been bothered by human's need to always right stuff down. It was just stupid, why would you sit down and carve all of that into a rock when you can just tell people what it is. Human's make me wonder sometimes.

Katherine looked down at Razor and Ruby. Razor had been pumping himself up for the last couple blocks, talking to himself and saying 'You can do it.'. A wide smile was on his face and his eyes were focused and excited.

Ruby on the other hand, she was as calm as ,well, a fox. Her ears were resting calmly and her brown eyes casually scanned the area. Her expression was plain, I looked like she wasn't to pumped to get into the gym.

"Let's just get this over with." she said, walking forward.

"My thought's exactly." I said, also not really looking forward to fighting rock Pokemon. Like I said before, Spark wouldn't be to useful with his electric attacks useless. I was very sure that the battle would go one of two ways. One, I would pull through and win in a stunning upset, allowing me to rub it in Ruby's face. Or I would crash and burn and walk or limp away with my tail in-between my legs.

Spark place his hand on my shoulder "You ready?"

I slid his hand of with a paw "If I'll ever be."

When we entered the gym there was a very wide open space in the center of the gym, with a Pokemon battle stage . On either side of the stage were viewing stations. Very plain, but it worked with the large boulders scattered about.

The place reeked of sweat and 4 or so people sat in the stands.

One of the fan-boy's, a chubby guy with a large goatee pointed at us, a tee shirt with 'Brock the rock' written on it over his chest. "Hey look, more challengers!" His big mouth open wide and his gruff voice stinging my ears.

Another man stood up "Yeah! Fresh meat." The man looked over to the other stands " Brock you got another challenger."

We all glanced over to see this Brock person. On the stands sitting with his legs crossed and hands on a Poke-ball, the man turned to us. His brown skin and black spiked hair were his most obvious traits. He stood and started to walk to us. That is when I noticed, Brock's eyes, were closed.

"Dude..." I whispered to Spark "That guy doesn't open his eyes."

The Pikachu frowned "I know, what the mew is that about?"

"I don't know, but he's freaking' me out. I can't tell in he's looking at me or not." I was quite freaked out, but the humans in the group seemed unfazed.

As Brock got closer he smirked "So, Desmond I see you brought some friends with you?" His smile was oddly warm.

"Quite right chap, my buddy Jack here and Miss Katherine want to challenge you." (I hate that damn accent.)

Brock extended a hand to Jack "Nice to meet you Jack," Jack promptly shook it. "And nice to meet you Katherine." He expected a hand and she shook it.

"You guys get ready!" yelled one of the fan-boy's "Brock is gonna pound you."

"I hate those guys, they hang around the gym all day" said the gym leader."But anyway, which one of you want's to go first?"

Jack stepped aside "Ladies first."

Kat smiled and looked down at her Pokemon "Ready guys?"

Razor gave a toothy grin and Ruby flung her hair.

"I guess that's a yes." the gym leader looked at his assistants "Get it started guy's, we got ourselves a challenger."

Each trainer stood on either side of the battle arena. On one side stood Katherine Beach, her sheen long brown hair and white clothing stood out in the colorless battlefield. Beside her stood her partner's and the one's that would decide the outcome of this battle. Ruby stood in front of the group, showing that she was going first. Her pinkish fur made it impossible not to see her and her hair hanging down from her face in the form of bangs.

On the other side stood Brock. He grabbed a Poke-ball from his belt.

The battle instructor came out caring two flags "This will be a two on two battle. The challenger can only use two Pokemon as well and the gym leader." He waved a flag towards Katherine "The challenger may substitute Pokemon as many times as she wishes" He raised a flag to Brock "But the gym leader can not. Is that understood?"

Both nodded "Very well then." said the institutor "Let the battle commence."

The fan-boy's started going crazy "Yeah Brock, show her who's boss!"

Brock unclipped he Poke-ball and kissed it "Geodude, give em a good fight!" he threw the ball and a little rock with arms and large eyes popped out.

Katherine smirked "Ruby, show that rock what you can do."

The fox jumped into the arena, her gaze directly on the Geodude. Her expression was one of boredom, she didn't want this the last long.

Brock waved his hand "Geodude, start with a sand-attack."

The rock...dude dug his hands into the ground and threw a sizable fist of sand and tossed it at Ruby.

"Ruby, dodge it and tackle!"

Ruby side stepped the mini-sandstorm and charged towards her target, giving a battle cry in the process. Needless to say, Geodude saw her coming and gave her a solid uppercut in the jaw. The she-fox staggered and grunted, no way that didn't hurt. Before the fox could even recover Brock said "Give her some more Geodude!"

The rock man hopped in the air (Somehow, he has no feet, he just levitates there. Super freaky!) and delivered a devastating punch in skull. She rebounded off the ground pounced back up in the air, then she met another fist right in the gut. That last hit sent her rolling on the ground. When she settled she laid there still for a moment before coughing and rolling on her belly. It would take a blind person to not see the pain that she was in and when she stood up it became even more obvious that she was not enjoying herself.

There was a huge bump on her forehead and a even larger one on her jaw. Blood dripped from her open mouth and her forehead. Her once pink fur was tattered, and matted with the dirt. Her legs were unsteady and her vision looked unfocused.

Katherine had a look of worry on her face as she said "Ruby, that's enough."

Ruby reluctantly staggered back to her trainer, a look of disappointment of her face. As she passed Razor she shot him a glance and said "Good luck Raze..."

The battle instructor waved a flag in Katherine's direction "Katherine's Vulpix has been recalled."

Kat frowned and looked at Razor "Show them what your made of Razor, start with a vine whip."

Razor jumped into the arena and took out his vines. The Geodude knew what was going to happen next and so did Brock.

"Geodude, brace yourself." commanded Brock.

Razor's vine's charged to their target and wrapped around it. He then lifted the defenseless Geodude in the air and slammed him down on the ground hard. As the dust cleared it became obvious that Geodude was out of the fight.

The instructor waved a flag to Brock "Geodude is unable to fight, Brock has one Pokemon left."

Brock recalled his Pokemon "Good job Geodude, get a good rest." he clipped the poke-ball back on his belt and took off another. "Since you decided to go first that shows that you have courage, and I admire that. So..." he threw the ball "Brick, show em!"

The Poke-ball opened and, big surprise, another Geodude popped out. However, this one was a good size bigger and looked stronger. This one was not going down in one attack.

"Razor, don't let this one get the first strike. Start with a razor leaf." said Kat.

The Bulbasaur planted himself and let loose a brigade of leaves. The sharp leaves hit the Geodude with deadly force and it staggered but regained it's composure.

"Brick, use roll-out!"

The Geodude slammed it's fist together and started to... well... roll. And by roll, I mean roll. That thing was going at least as fast as I could run. Razor didn't even have time to blink before the rock collided with him. The Bulbasuar fell back and clutched his nose, squirming. Razor gave a large yell of pain as blood flowed from his nose.

"Razor, that's enough." said Katherine, pulling out a Poke-ball and recalling the plant Pokemon. She looked to Ruby "Do you think you can fight. I'm not going to make you if you don't want to."

Ruby didn't even look at her trainer, she just charged at the Geodude, her eyes full of rage "No one hurts Razor like that!" She pounced on the Geodude, forcing him to the ground. Her claws started to glow and scratched at the Geodude without mercy, swipe after swipe, slash after unrelenting slash. Ruby became a monster and as the screams of agony from the Geodude echoed through the room Brock stepped in "Wait! Stop!" he yelled "I surrender!"

Katherine sighed "Good job Rubes, you can stop now."

The Vulpix's claws stopped glowing and she stepped off of the cowering rock Pokemon. Brock rushed over to his fallen Pokemon and picked it up in his arms. "Brick, you okay?"

The Geodude gave a weak thumbs up "Yeah." he said in a gruff voice.

Brock pulled out a Poke-ball "Have a good rest." he said and recalled it.

"Yes! I- we won! Oh man... great job Ruby!" She swooped down and picked up the unsuspecting fox and hugged her "Oh I can't believe you just did that!" she put the Vulpix back down "I never knew you could use Metal claw."

Ruby smiled and coughed "Well I guess I'm just full of surprises."

Brock , full of defeat, walked over to Kat "I guess you have two well trained Pokemon." He scratched his head and laughed "I'll be sure to give you what you came here for after I battle your friend."

Katherine smiled "That's fine, I would love to see I Jack can pull of a win.

I frowned and thought 'You mean if Night can pull off a win' My nerves had bee pretty fine before the end of the fight. I wasn't yet at the point where my voice would get higher, but I was at the point where my rings were fluctuating. When I get nervous or scared my rings change from their usual yellow color to a light, puke colored green. Now, when you rings are your most obvious feature it is really hard not to see them change colors.

Spark looked at me "Nervous?"

I looked at him dead in the eye and as I spoke my voice went up 3 decibels "More than you know."

* * *

Jack's gym battle begins next chapter, get ready for some more action.


	19. Battle for the Badge: Jack's challenge

Alright, Jack's gym battle begins! Let the violence commence!

* * *

This was gonna be a tough battle, and Jack knew it. By the look on his face I could see him figuring out how he could win. He ran his fingers nervously through his hair, stress starting to sink in. He was going to have his first gym battle, and he didn't have any type advantages.

Brock went back over to his side of the arena and Jack went to his. Spark followed with the utmost enthusiasm, ready to do anything to win. I also was actually pretty surprised that I was excited. Just a day or two before I hatted to fight, but those last few days with these people had changed me, and I was eager to have a good scrap.

Jack sighed and ran his hand over his face "Spark, get out there."

The Pikachu cracked his knuckles and stepped into the arena "I'll see what I can do."

Brock threw his Poke-ball "Alright, Crash, give these guys a challenge" the Poke-ball opened and another Geodude came out, but this one looked much tougher.

"Alright, Spark don't use any electric attacks and keep your speed up!" yelled Jack "Start with a quick attack."

The rodent charged straight at the rock with unmeasured speed. Within the blink of an eye he was within striking distance. But Crash saw him coming and swung a fist. Spark aptly dodged the blow spun around and hit the Geodude across the face with the back of his hand. Then he started a combo, he stopped spinning jumped and slammed another fist in the rock Pokemon. He then took that some fist and brought it back up, hitting his opponent again.

"Spark, head-butt!" demanded Jack. Spark grabbed the Geodude and forced his head into his opponent.

The Geodude staggered back and shook himself, he was completely fine.

"What the Mew?" said Spark, not believing how Crash had taken all those hits.

"Not bad for a Pikachu, you know how to brawl." said the Geodude spitting out what seemed to be dust (He has dust in him... how the hell is he alive?)

"Crash, give that mouse a tackle!" said Brock.

The Geodude smashed his fist together and charged at Spark. He was fast for a creature with no legs, but he was nothing compared to Spark. The pikachu sidestepped the rock with relative ease.

"Now spin around!"

Brick then stopped and started to spin, and spin very fast. Spark didn't even have time to blink before a fist slammed into the side of his face. The Geodude then dove onto the rodent with full force and started to hammer away at Spark. Blow after devastating blow took away Spark's stamina and after just a few seconds Brick hopped off of the rodent, reveling that he had been knocked unconscious.

The instructor waved a flag to Jack "Spark is unconscious, trainer Jack has one Pokemon left."

Jack nervously stoked his hair and held out a Poke-ball and returned his pikachu "Good try Spark, you did your best." he said. He clipped the device to his belt and turned to me "Okay Night, it's up to you now."

I gritted my teeth (Which by the way, really hurts when you have sharp teeth) and walked onto the raised platform. My opponent smiled "Ooo, a dark type, you guys aren't to often around here."

"That's good to know," I said getting into my battle stance "maybe you'll have a story to tell all your grandchildren. About the time you got beat by an Umbreon."

"Night, start with a shadow ball, go!" yelled Jack.

I opened my mouth, letting the dark energy emit from my body. Within a few seconds the ball in front of me was about the size of a soccer ball.

"Crash, break his concentration! Now!"

The Geodude followed his trainers command without hesitation, a big mistake. As he got closer the shadow ball had gotten bigger and was the size of a beach ball. When Brick was less than a foot away Jack yelled "Night, use that shadow ball!"

Completely agreeing with my human I unleashed the shadow ball. Unfortunately for Brick had his mouth wide open, and the shadow ball got him right in the mouth. A dark boom echoed through the room and the Geodude was sent flying back. When the dark matter cleared the Geodude lay still on the ground, completely unconscious.

The instructor waved a flag "Crash is unable to battle, Leader Brock has one Pokemon left."

I arrogantly smirked "Wasn't that hard." I paced back and forth "Come one, what do you have. Another Geodude, ha, I eat Geodudes for breakfast." Once again my arrogance was glowing and Brock could see it.

"You know, I was going to use another Geodude on you "spoke Brock, he turned his attention to me "But your Umbreon's attitude is less than humble." He un-clipped a Poke-Ball "Plus, this Pokemon hasn't gotten much action lately. " He tossed the ball and said two words that still scare me to this day, words that send shivers up my spine. And those word were...

"Go Onix."

The Poke-Ball opened and out of it came an Onix, the biggest Mother Rucker you've ever seen (Yeah and other made up word). It at least stood 20 feet and towered over everything. It's eyes completely focused on me.

I was engulfed in fear ad I said "Wow... you're a big guy aren't you."

The rock snake sneered and said in a deep voice "What do you mean guy?"

I blinked "I mean guy, your are a guy right?"

"No!" exploded the Onix.

"Holy Giratina, you're a girl? No way. "

"Yes!"

That was when I said the stupidest thing I have ever said "Are you sure... cus'..."

"I'm gonna tear you apart punk." said the Onix, she was done talking with me. I saw her eyes thin out and her mouth frown. She was going all out on me.

"Well Night, we have a good fight ahead of us..." spoke Jack "You up for it"

I nodded, not because I thought I could win, I just didn't want Ruby to see me loose (She would never let me live it down... ever)

Brock pointed at me "Onix, give them a head-butt!"

Onix roared and jetted at me , at a speed that would rival Spark's. Her speed was terrifying and everything froze. I stopped breathing and my legs wouldn't listen to my commands to move. I couldn't move.

"Night, dodge it. Now!" yelled Jack, snapping me back into reality. By the time he said that Onix was 20 feet away and closing in fast. I only had enough time to jump. I bent my legs and pushed up as hard as I could and jutted off the floor. The moment I was at the top of my jump the Onix crashed into where I once was. Then as gravity did it's thing I fell and landed on her head.

"Great job Night, now shadow ball!" yelled Jack, his excitement evident.

I focused my energy while Onix attempted to shake me off her head "You little bastard, get off!"

I smiled as my shadow ball was completed "Sure." and with a grunt and forced the shadow ball into the Onix's head. Her screams of agony echoed through the room. Then they stopped and she started to fall.

Since you've most likely never been on top of a falling Onix it's like this. Imagine being of the top of a telephone pole and then having it fall... yeah, sucks right? Anyway, I launched myself off of the falling behemoth and landed on my side hard. I scrabbled to my feet just in time to have the Onix fall right beside me, engulfing me in a storm of dust.

"Onix!" yelled Brock in distress.

"Oh crap Night!" screamed Jack, fearing that I had just been squashed. But as the smoke cleared his fears were proven false, as I stood over the fallen Onix in victory.

"Onix is unable to fight!" spoke the battle instructor " He waved a flag towards Jack "the Challenger is victorious!"

"Yes! Yeah! Way-to-go Night!" yelled Jack, jumping up and down," That is how you win a battle," he turned to the fan boys "Suck on that assholes! Wooo!"

Unlike Jack, I was drained of energy, I could barley muster the stamina to stay standing. My limbs felt numb and my vision was unfocused as Brock recalled Onix.

"Well, I didn't expect that. Your Umbreon has one heck of a shadow ball." He reached into his vest and pulled out two small emblems. "Here you are, the Boulder badge." he said placing one in Jack's hands and tossing the other to Katherine "You've earned 'em."

I paused "What..." I said in a daze "After all that, all we get is a freaking badge." I blinked and looked at Jack's smiling face "Oh, we're gonna talk about this later."


	20. Family Issues: Vapor

Well, Well, Well, my 20th chapter. I am so happy with this story and how it's going so far. I really want to thank all of you who have reviewed and I read all of them all the time. Thank you and enjoy this new story arc.

* * *

"I can't believe it!" exclaimed my trainer, he jumped up and down kissing his precious piece of metal. As he jumped for joy I thought the same thing. I knew that after we won a reward would be a badge. But I was under the impression that the Pokemon would be getting a badge, after all, I did all the work."

"What the Mew!" I said "He gets a reward for telling me to do things I would have done anyway, what is that?l" I yelled to no one in particular. That was when I remembered, this is a human's world that Pokemon just live in. Humans always get what they want and leave the scraps to us. They may not realize it, but we are not equals in any way.

I sighed, excepting the fact that I had just worked my butt of for a small piece of metal that I didn't even get. Although, I did feel some kind of gratitude that I had done good by Jack. He wasn't a bad kid, unlike most trainers his age. He had a happiness about him that was contagious. So as I watch him and Katherine celebrate their badges something deep inside me told me that I did good.

"Well mate, it's good to see you've won your first gym battle." said Desmond tapping on his Jolteon's poke-ball. We had just exited the gym and were feeling exhausted. "It's too bad my other Pokemon couldn't find the nerve to fight."

Jack turned to him "One of your Pokemon is shy, how cute."

"Eh, perhaps, but I know that she can be an asset, she's just really not confident." replied Desmond.

"Hey!" spoke Katherine, her voice still excited from the win " why don't you let her out so we can meet her?"

"Why" replied the Brit.

Katherine shrugged "I mean, I assumed that you would be traveling with us," she turned to Jack "That wouldn't be a problem, would it Jack?"

Jack was obviously not in agreement with her statement but sighed and said "Yeah sure, why not."

"So you're traveling with us now , so we should meet all your Pokemon." Katherine looked down at Ruby "Plus, Ruby could use some girl talk."

By the look on the Vulpix's face it was clear that Ruby had no interest in meeting anyone new, but humans aren't that great at reading expressions.

Desmond smiled "Well, thank you for including me in your group miss Katherine" he unclasped a poke-ball "I guess you can meet her." he tossed the poke-ball "Come on out Vapor."

A red light emitted from the poke-ball and formed into a Pokemon. As the red light faded I realized two things, one was that it was a Vaporeon. Her eyes had a uncaring nature about them and her face showed self-scorn. Her posture was low and her head was tilted down to the ground. She was not a very self confident Pokemon. However, there was something that I saw instantly about this Vaporeon, something that send mixed signals to my heart, and something that somewhat worried me. For in front of me, stood the only other person in the world I cared about more than my mother.

Her downcast eyes slowly looked up and the first thing they caught sight of was me. I didn't know what to do, I hadn't seen her in months and had no idea how to react to her eyes. So I did the one thing that I do best, I talked.

"Hey Vaporeon, nice to see you again..."

Ruby looked at me "What you know her?"

I nodded "Yeah , she's my sister."

Ruby gave an open smile "No way, you're bugging' me" she turned to Vaporeon " Is he really your brother?"

Vapor looked at her and looked at me and smiled slightly "Yes... It's... good to see you again Umbreon."

Then my brotherly instincts kicked in and I instantly started to wonder how she was "Are you okay?" I questions "How were you captured?"

She sighed "I went out for a walk and he caught me off guard." she turned around and looked up at Desmond "But he really isn't that bad."

Desmond looked down at my sister and softly stroked her head "Well, at least it looks like she's coming out of her shell a bit."

I still was flabbergasted that my sister was with me now, I can't explain it, but I felt better around her. I felt like now I had someone to care about.

"It's good to hear you talk miss." spoke Jolt, flicking his ears "I hope you and I can make an effective team."

Vapor lowered her ears "Yeah, okay..."

* * *

"Wait a minute." said Spark, his hands extended in front of him " Desmond caught a member of your family."

I sighed "Yes you idiot, I just said it. ." We were back at the hotel and both of us stood on the balcony.

"Jeez... so, which one did he catch?"

"Vaporeon, he nicknamed her the ever so creative name of Vapor."

Spark snicked "Gotta love humans, but I'm happy for you. I mean, you get to travel the world with your sister." He then seemed to have a sudden realization and his face lit up "Oh my Mew, I almost forgot. You totally kicked butt!"

I smiled "Yeah I did, the gym leader even busted out an Onix, but it was nothing." I turned around and caught sight of Vapor and Razor talking on a bed.

"Oh come on, how is beating the first gym leader single handedley nothing? Congrats."

I sighed still looking at Vapor "Yeah."

Spark instantly caught this and smiled again "What , you worried Razor's gonna seduce your sister?

"No, I'm just worried that she's gonna get hurt."

"How would she get hurt?"

I looked at Spark with dead serious eyes and said "Have you already forgotten what Azelf told us , if the legendary dogs want Arceus out of the picture I would think that they wouldn't want us to interfere." I looked down "I don't think they'll hesitate in attacking us and I don't think they'll be to nice with it."

The rodent leaned on the railing and exhaled "No I haven't forgotten, but look. If Azelf is on our side who knows how many other legendaries are with us. I'm sure we'll be fine."

I looked back at my sister again and caught her laughing at something Razor had said. "I hope so Spark, I really hope so."


	21. Family Issues: The Talk

Alright, sorry this chapter took a while. I kinda changed it a little in the middle.

* * *

As the sun set on the world and the sounds of Pewter City died down. The air was heavy, damp and unnatural, a result of the human pollution. The Pewter City skyline turned a dark honey shade and purple and as I stood out on the balcony the wind ran though my fur. I yawned loudly and scratched my chin, it had been a long day.

"Umbreon." said a gentle voice from behind me.

I lowered my head and smiled, knowing that voice like I knew mine.

"Vaporeon," I said turning my head to her. She looked slightly better than she had only a few hours before , the sun hit her reflective coat making her shine. Almost like an angel. "How are you?"

Vapor raised her ears "Good, good... and you."

I smiled "You know I'm fine, even more with you here now. I still can't believe that you got captured. I could understand me getting caught, but you're much smarter than me."

"I wouldn't say that, it's no surprise to me..." she looked down "I'm not good at anything, including battling."

I sighed , there she goes again. She had always been like that, constantly putting herself down. She had no self-esteem when it came to anything and blamed herself when anything went wrong. It drove me near insane when she would talk down to herself, she really is a wonderful Pokemon.

"Vapor," I said, calling her by her new name " why do you always do that? You can't keep putting yourself down like that, it's not good for your self-confidence." I sighed, "Why are you always so depressed?"

My sister frowned and lifted her head up "Can we not talk about that now?"

I placed a paw on her shoulder "No we need to, you're my sister and I want to know what's bothering you so I can help."

Vapor looked away for a second, breaking eye contact and said "When you left home... it was hard. You-" she stopped, rubbing the tears that where starting to form "you were the only one that I felt like I could talk to. Everyone else isn't like me, everyone else is normal. They tried, I know they did but I didn't feel like I had a connection."

I swallowed, suddenly realizing what she was going through. One of the worst feelings in the world is to feel alone. It eats away at your mind and soul and leaves you in a state of insanity eventually. But my sister was feeling something worst than being alone.

She felt alone when with people. And the only person that she felt like she could relate with was me.

"I don't want to talk about it." she said.

I sighed "Vaporeon..." I said , hearing the sadness in her voice

"Was it because of me?" she asked, not looking at me.

I was taken aback with that question. "No! Not at all Vapor , I didn't leave home because of you. I left because I wanted to live my life." I stopped to nudge her face to look at me "You really thought that I left because of you?"

She violently pushed away my paw " Why did you do that, all I wanted to do was have a talk with you." Her eyes had a flint of anger in them " I don't talk to you in months and the first conversation that we have you pry me open and try to find all my secrets. I just wanted to talk to you."

I was astounded at how fast her attitude had changed. Within moments she had gone from docile to aggressive, she usually never did that.

"I-"

"No Umbreon," interrupted Vapor "I thought you'd be different than the rest of the family about this. Forget it, I'll talk to someone else." she turned tail and walked into the hotel room "Goodnight."

As I wondered what had just happened and how Vapor had just had a mood change faster that Ruby I felt a slight sinking feeling in my chest. Whether I accepted it or not, Vapor was angry at me and that was going to be a big issue.


	22. Family Issues: The Bigger Picture

In this chapter we delve a little deeper into into what's going on with Arceus.

* * *

After Vapor left me I had time to think, mostly because everyone else saw that I didn't want to be bothered. I gazed up at the now gleaming moon and tried to figure out what happened to my sister. I had only left home a few months ago and was astounded at how she could have changed that quickly. Then my arrogant side came out, I started to think '_How could she be mad at _**me**_? I was only trying to help the girl, ridiculous . She's probably just tired or something.' _In my mind, I had done nothing wrong.

I saw the lights behind be snap off, Jack and Spark were going asleep and giving me more time to think. Desmond and Katherine's groups were also most likely hitting the hay too.

The thoughts of my sister faded away however as I started to ponder what else was going on. Up to that point I only knew that Arceus was injured and dying and the only way to cure her was to get some artifact at the elite four. It all sound stupid to me, if they needed to get the artifact why couldn't they just go in and get it. Why rely on us? It was all so confusing.

"Hey Nighty poo."

I was jolted out of my state of thought and thrust back into reality. I looked up with my heart racing to see Azelf floating upside down looked at me with his large amber eyes. He smiled, I guess he was pleased to scare the crap out of me. "Hello..." he said in an amused tone "What's up?"

"Up is a direction." I quickly responded, gotta love smart-ass comments.

"Very funny," he turned right-side-up and settled on the balcony hand-holds "I heard what you were thinking about."

I raised a brow " You go straight to the point don't you."

Completely ignoring my statement he continued " I wondered the same thing as well," he looked up at the moon "We are the strongest Pokemon in the world, we can move mountains with the flick of a wrist. We can morph the sun and moon. We level cities in seconds. We can do almost anything, we are like gods." he stopped and turned his gaze back to me "That is what Arceus would always say, she said it was our anthem or something. But, as she dies, she said she doesn't want any of us to save her. She says that a normal Pokemon must save her, or she won't take to cure." I saw his eyes slowly sadden, talking about this was not easy for him. "I care about Arceus, all the legendaries spare the dogs care about her. I don't understand why she won't let us save her..."

"Look Azelf," I started "I don't know Arceus, I've never talked to her and I don't know how she acts. But..." I paused to gather a breath "what if this isn't what you think it is...?"

Azelf looked shocked "What, are you saying that she's lying to us?

"I'm just saying-"

"Arceus doesn't lie. I don't know what your thinking, but Arceus wouldn't lie, ever." said Azelf, keeping his tone calm.

"Whatever, Spark and I will try our hardest to get this artifact thing. Who knows... maybe only normal Pokemon can get it or something."

Azelf crossed his arms " Yeah, eventually I'll have to tell every member of your group, hopefully telling everyone else will be easier than it was to tell Spark. Such a squeamish little pikachu."

I shrugged "Yeah, but he's a good guy..."

The blue Pokemon smiled "And the closest thing that you have to a friend."

I rolled my eyes, but in my heart I knew what he said was right. Ruby and Vapor hatted my guts at the moment, Razor was more of an accomplice, Azelf was more like a guide, and I'd only talked to Jolt twice. Spark and I did make sort of a good team, even back in the forest and in the battles that we've been in together. I made a mental note to treat the rat better, that rat was my only real friend.

I looked back into the now pitch black room and smiled "I should hit the sack."

"You should, talking to you is fun, but only for a minute." spoke Azelf. He floated up into the air "I'll be seeing you"

I curly waved at him "Goodnight." And as the Pokemon disappeared I couldn't help but wonder what was going on with Arceus. Was she actually hurt, or was there something bigger going on.

I just had to wait and see.

* * *

Well those another chapter and another arc, hope you enjoyed it!


	23. Legendary Dissent part 1: Azelf

And here is another chapter. I have a special treat for you as well...

This is part one of a noncontinuous arc about the legendaries. Time to plant the seed of thought, enjoy the chapter.

Oh yeah, and please review, I haven't gotten one in a while so I have no idea how I'm going. So don't be afraid to press that little button at the bottom.

* * *

I sighed as I looked over Pewter, such a perfect example of human culture. Even in the dead of night it was still alive; the city lights eliminating the buildings and the streets below. People still walked around going to do thinks even at night. It was amazing the more I thought about it. Standing on a rooftop, I could see everything.

I'm sure by now your wondering 'Whoa, Night how did you get on a roof?" We'll guess what, I'm not Night. He is asleep in his hotel room.

I am Azelf, remember me, one of the lake trio. Night, despite how resourceful he is, can't tell you the whole story. I can show you things that humans have never seen before , so consider yourself lucky.

It was about 12 at night (or in the morning if you want to be a smart-ass ) and I was looking down at the city but I was also thinking about something else. What Night said before had resonated with me. Never before had I ever questioned Arceus, but Night just did and it was a good point. Arceus had never done anything bad, but it was weird that she said we couldn't help her. Apparently only Night and company could, it was questionable.

_"_You do state a good point._" _said a deep voice from behind me.

I almost peed myself, I didn't even sense anyone around me and it scared the crap out of me. I quickly turned around to see who it was. "Jeez Mewtwo, don't do that."

The Mew clone was levitating a few feet away from me, his arms crossed and his purple eyes glaring down on me. "Azelf...how did your talk with the Umbreon go?"

I sighed, Mewtwo never asked me questions unless he knew I had been lying. I wasn't even supposed to tell Night about Arceus' condition, and I've told him too much already. By the look on his face I could tell that the cat wasn't very happy.

"Look..." I started "I know what your thinking, but I thought it would be better in the long run if he and the Pokemon traveling with him know about the situation as soon as possible.."

Mewtwo thought about what I said "I suppose that that wouldn't be to bad, your off the hook for that." He land on the roof and walked up to the edge "Have you talked to to Vulpix yet?"

"No , not yet." I replied

Mewtwo stroked his chin "Good, Mew said he wanted to talk to her himself, he thinks she could be silver fox."

I raised a brow "How could she be the silver fox, she's pink."

The feline looked at me "Because the silver fox isn't born sliver, it is born an odd color. I doesn't matter, we'll find out when she evolves."

"How will we know when she evolves, does something bizarre happen?"

Mewtwo nodded "Yes Azelf, for you see, if this Vulpix is the silver fox when she evolves she won't turn into a Ninetails."

Now I was confused "How is that possible?"

Mewtwo smiled "It's to hard to explain, but in the mean time try to watch out for the dog trio. We have reason to believe that they are on the hunt for the Umbreon, so keep him safe."

I smirked "I'll do my best, tell Mew and the others I said hi."

And with that, Mewtwo vanished only leaving me with my thoughts, and what dangerous thoughts they were. Arceus was like the queen of all legendaries, like a god, and if anyone defied her I don't know what would happen. No one had ever even gave a second thought when Arceus said something, they just listened and believed what they heard. But the seed had been planted, Night's words had resonated. Arceus wasn't making any sense, and I needed to find out why.

I took one more look at the city below me before saying "I need to have a talk with you Arceus."


	24. Espeon's game: The Psychic's Ambush

I wanted to thank you guys for the review, their really helpful and I do read them all. So please keep giving me feedback, I want to make this story as good as possible.

Thanks and enjoy the new arc.

* * *

"All right guys, time to go!" yelled Jack as he stood by the door. After staying for only two nights we were leaving Pewter city. I didn't really like being in Pewter, I wasn't sure if it was how crowded it was, or how it reeked of dirt and gravel, or how I just felt weird there. But in any case, I was glad that we were leaving.

Spark walked past me with an ambient smile on his face, his blue scarf snugly around his neck 'It'll feel good to get some fresh air." He looked at me " Won't it?"

I gave a slight smirk "Yeah."

He patted me on the shoulder and said "Good, then what do you say get going eh buddy?"

I felt a slight feeling kinship in that one moment. That was the very first time I heard Spark call me his buddy and mean it. In fact, that was the first time I heard anyone call me that and mean it. But after that moment was over I simply said "Whatever."

We met the other in the lobby of the hotel. The very first thing that I wanted to do when I got down there was talk to Vapor. The lobby wasn't at all crowded so the moment we got there Vapor was in plain sight. Both Desmond and Kate's groups were in the lobby waiting. Ruby, Razor and Jolt were conversing with each other, leaving Vapor to me. I quickly strode over to my sister, hoping to get her not to hate me.

"Hey sis..." I said to get her attention "How did you sleep."

She turned to me and hit me with a cold glare "Why do you care?"

I shrugged , keeping a smile on my face "No reason, I just wanted to know. We haven't had a real conversion."

She rolled her eyes "Oh, now you want to talk."

"Yes, Vapor your my sister and I want us to be close." I replied. "I don't want us to be like this."

Vapor's face lost a bit of it's anger and she swallowed "Neither do I, but your such an ass. All the time. It drives me crazy, and apparently it drives Ruby crazy too."

I frowned "Ruby?"

"Yes, she told me how mean you can be to her. You think just because you tell her about our family she'll like you? You make her feel like crap!" exclaimed my sister.

I looked over to Ruby, she had been listening the whole time. Then I looked around and realized that everyone had heard.

I looked down and reflected for a moment. All this time I had wondered why people didn't like me and why Ruby was so cold to me. It was just then I realized that they hated me because I was, in every sense of the word , a bastard.

Awestruck by my sudden realization I said "Oh god, I'm sorry girls. I had no idea..." I was almost at a loss of words. Every time someone told me that I was being an ass I just brushed it aside, but with my sister telling me it hit home hard.

Ruby flicked her eyes "Whatever."

Vapor smiled "It's okay, your my brother and I love you."

"Awww" came Razor's voice from behind me. I made a mental note to smack him latter.

I put a smile on my face and said "Thank you Vapor."

* * *

By the time we were on the road my awkward apology had been completely excepted by Vapor and completely denied by Ruby. She made this clear by walking 4 or so feet away from me at all times, no matter what. I did still feel bad for treating her badly, but my sister liked me again so I thought of it as a good day so far.

But you have no idea how bad it was about to get.

We had been walking for and hour or so and were far from Pewter and more than halfway to Cerulean city. The mid-day sun was beating down on me, almost as to say that my kind didn't belong in the sunlight. I am a creature of darkness, so being in the sun for that long was so annoying.

Razor was smiling cheek to cheek "Oh man, this sun is great isn't it Night!" The plant Pokemon was walking right next to me, pollen ejecting from his bulb.

"No, and could you please not spray me with your... dust?" I said.

"Ahhh, come on." he directed a solid blast of powder in my face "Doesn't that feel great?"

The yellow dust blasted up my nose causing me to instantly sneeze. This sneeze forced the trapped pollen particles out into Razor's face. I fell to the ground with the force of the sneeze making me lose my balance. So in the end I ended up on the ground and Razor ended up with his own plant's pollen covering his face.

Kate laughed, her brown hair drooping "What was that Razor?" she knelt down and picked up the Bulbasaur "You and Night are little buddies now aren't you?"

I stood back up and coughed "Not for long if he does that again. Now how the Mew an I going to get this stuff off."

Vapor promptly doused me with a water gun, which also knocked me down.

"Gah!..." I exclaimed as I fell. By then everyone was clear on what was going on and was laughing, even Ruby (You didn't strike me as a laughing kind of girl.)

Jack stood over me with a confused look on his stupid human face "You okay buddy?"

I wiped my face with a paw and replied "I told you, don't call me your buddy. It makes me feel small."

"Well, you aren't big either." added Ruby with a cold tone. I shot her a glare but said nothing, being careful not to upset her more. That was the issue with her, one moment she had you pinned against a wall about to kill you and then the next was crying about her fur. She was so unstable with her emotions.

Then that's when things got bad. The moment I tried to stand up I couldn't. Not that I didn't want to stand, my body just wouldn't move. The only things that did move were my eyes, and boy that they move. I looked around wildly as the world around me faded to white.

_'What the heck, Azelf help me!' _My mind was slowing down, almost as I was falling asleep.

Then a voice in the depths of my mind calmly said "Oh my little Umbreon, even Azelf can't help you now."

* * *

It seems like Night's gotten himself into a little pickle. Who is this mystery man (or woman)? Stick around and find out.


	25. Espeon's game: The First Test

Dang, chapter 25 I didn't think this would get this far!

Espeon's game begin's as Night is driven to the edge of sanity. Hope you like it, tell me what you think!

* * *

I was, in a word, terrified. Everything around me was deteriorating to nothingness. Only seconds before I had been on the side of a grass path with everyone and now I was in a completely flat ,white landscape. Or at least, it looked flat. Since everything was white it was impossible to tell. There was an eerie silence that was very obvious, ussually there was at least some noise, but this place was completely quiet.

I stood up and suddenly felt very heavy, like my bones were made of lead. I found that I would have to exhaust myself just to stand, and I didn't even want to try walking. I looked up at the sky (or what I thought was the sky) and yelled "Is anyone there?"

"I am."

I cocked my head to the source of the sound and was infuristed to instant I saw who was the speaker. It was something that made me angry beyond words.

Standing about 2 meter from me stood a very confident looking, grinning Espeon. His large ears were perked up. His most striking feature was that his eyes were blue. A ussual espeon's eyes were a purplish tint, so his eyes stuck out emedietly.

His small grin got a little larger "Hello Night."

"How the hell do you know my name you psychic bastard _?_" I snaped at him, knowing full well that my bite would come no were near him.

"Whoa Night," said the Espeon putting up his front paws in a defensive position " No need for the insults. I read your mind, I also know about Ruby and your sister." He pasued for dramatic effect "And I know about Azelf."

My hot temper exloded "What the Mew gives you the right to read me like some freakin' book? That is seriously important information..." I lowered my brows "I hate your kind, they make me sick!"

The smile returned to the psychic feline's face "Likewise, you dirtly little dark types are the scum of the earth."

"Shut up!"

"Very well," said the Espeon calmly "I am going to play a little game Night." he pointed at me "And it involves you."

I frowned deeper "How?"

He spun his paw in a circle and pointed at his head "I'm going to play with your mind."

"What are you talking about?"

The Espeon smirked " A great human once said 'There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line' I intend to do the same thing to you."

At that moment I suddenly felt my body feel lighter again. I smirked "Your about to regret that statement." In a burst of speed I lunged at the eeveelution in a rage. I felt a surge of engery in my right paw as I swung it at him.

There was a sickening dark crack when my paw connected with his face. A flash of light blinded me for a moment and when I regained my sight I was in a completly different place. The White landscape that had been was replaced bt dark rolling plains of grass and powerful rain.

Not paying too much attention to my change in scenery I looked down expecting to see an unconscious (or dead) Espeon on the ground. But what I did see still haunts me to this day.

Brathing hard I placed both my paws on my mouth and fell to my knees

"Mom"

My mother lay there motionless on the ground before me. Her large brown eyes were wide open and looking right at me, but she saw nothing. He body was limp and a thick stream of blood flowed from an open wound on the side of her face. Her mouth was slightly agape, dark blood bubbling there. She was dead, and I had killed her.

Tears flowed from my face as the rain pounded down on me, my mind in a slump and my heart going numb with pain.

"_...mom..._" I spoke in an unstable tone as I reached down and held her to me "_I'm sorry mom... I'm so sorry..." _

I felt breath on the back of my head as a voice said "Oh poor Nightly poo killed his mama."

I turned my head in a mixture of anger and shock and was flabergated at who it was.

The Esepon smiled "Remember me?"

I widened my eyes "What the..."

I swiftly turned back to my mother and was again shocked. There, crattled in my arms, was the Espeon. He still had that same grin on his face.

"Whoa Night, I didn't think you felt this way about me."

I screamed in pure terror at what just happened and as I did the world changed back into the white landscape. I looked down and the Espeon was gone again.

"What the Mew is this?" I said, now beyond freaked out.

Espeon's voice echoed in my head "Oh Night my friend, it is only your first test..."

I staggered back "Only the first test, this isn't some game you dolt. I just saw my mother dead!"

Espeon appeared in front of me "Yes you did, becasue I put her there. At this time your mind in under occupation by mine. This is all in your brain." He turned his back to me "Although, some things will seem very real."

I frowned again "This isn't some kind of game you sick bastard!"

The Espeon gave a casual gesture "Oh, my poor Umbreon. It is, did you not here me before," he turned his head to face me "I' going to play a little game, and that was just the first part."

* * *

The quote is from **Oscar Levant **if you were wondering.


	26. Espeon's Game: The Second Test

This was by far my favorite arc so far so it's kinda sad to see it come closer to an end. Be warned for those who are very squeemish, there is a graphic scene in this. It was longer, but I shortened it to keep it teen rated. Please read and review and thanks for the views!

* * *

"What do ya mean that was the first part?" I asked in an angry voice. "How long is this going to last?"

The Espeon materialized next to me "As long as I want it to..."

I viciously swiped at him, but my strike went straight through him, as if he was a ghost. He looked at me with that same infuriating grin. His satisfaction in my distress was written all over in pink face. The jewel on his forehead glowed bright, almost blinding me.

"Sometimes I wonder how those without my powers survive." he said in a fake sad voice. 'Do you want to know something my poor dark-type friend?"

I stood up straight in an attempt to calm myself down with a sigh " What?"

His grin wideend as he said "Your brother was attacked last night."

My residing anger returned in a fury. I got into his face with a deep frown on my face "What did you do to my brother, I swear if you put a finger on him I'll kill you."

The Espeon cassualy raised a paw " I didn't do it, all I noticed was a flucuatuon in his life force, meaning that he was in a tough spot. That's all I know." he pointed at my chest, "you should watch your heartbeat, it might explode."

I raised a brow " My Heart will explode? How stupid are you!" I felt my heart-rate increase but thought nothing of it.

The Espoen cocked his head "I'm telling you, you need to calm down big time or your heart might go boom."

I couldn't take that guy anymore. I charged a shadow-ball right in his face "Do you want me to kill you! Because I will!"

"Night, we both know that you don't have to capacity to kill anyone. And you really need to calm down. We wouldn't want your heart to explode."

I snarled at him "You idiot! My heart isn't going to expo-" was all I had time to say before I felt something explode in my chest. My muscles turned to jelly and I collapsed, feeling the full pain in my chest.

In a low voice I struggled to say "What the hell happened..."

The Espeon looked down at me "Your heart exploided. We need to get you to an operating table."

In a flash of light I was laying on my back on a stretcher and in a completely different environment. The endless white landscape had been replaced by interior of a Pokemon center. Over me stood a few nurses and docter with various tools.

I turned , my head and looked around. I now on a table of sorts with blinding lights beaming down on me.

"What do we do docter?" said a man over me as he slapped on gloves.

Another one reached down to my chest and grasped something "I don't know, I think we need to get the specialist."

I looked down to see what the human had grabbed and almost fainted at what I saw. My chest had been compelty open and exposed. All of my organs were moving anf pumping, all exept one. My heart , which had aparently exploded , had a human hand on it.

Then a door opened from the side and a form stepped in. It jumped on the table and landed right next to my head.

A docter looked at the newcomer and smiled "Ah, docter Espeon good to see you."

"WHat!" I almost yelled and looked at the Espeon. He still had that same idiotic smile of his smug face. His blue eyed glistened under the intense light.

"Alright, now I'm going to knock you out." he said pulling out a needle out of nowhere. "Now hold still."

...

I awoke in a daze on my back on a hard surface. I blinked to readjust my sight and to look at my surroundings. The bright Pokemon center lights were no longer there and the doctors were gone. I was back in the endless field of white.

I quickly looked down at me chest, making sure that my chest was fine. When I saw that everything seemed in it's place I settled back down 'Maybe that Espeon is gone..."

"Or maybe he's not."

I jumped to my feet in surprise at the sudden second voice and snarled once I saw to speaker. "Why don't you just leave me alone Espeon, don't you have other things to do."

The psychic smiled (I Hate that freakin' smile) and said "not really, I'm a lonley Espeon. But you are quite the company." he turned around and started to walk "You are special, ussualy I break people after the first dream, and if not the second. I'm out of idea's Night, you've managed to survive my game."

I got into a battle stance, if I was going to get the jump on him it would be now.

The Espeon continued to talk " I wonder what I will do to you now. I don't feel like letting you go, even though I can't seem to delve deeper into your mind. It's infuriating, but kinda satisfying."

I charged some power in a paw and slowly closed in on the Espeon, only feet away from him.

"I wonder what else you know." said the Espeon, still deep in thought.

Without hesitation I pounced and swiped at the psychic with full force. My paw connected with the back of the head of my target. In a cream of both pain, fear and surprize the Espeon was flung through the air and as he hit the ground there was a flash.

Then, nothing.


	27. Espeon's Game: Game Over

Dang here it is, the conclusion to Espeon's game. I hope you enjoyed it. If you don't know, this story has a different side to it. It's called the Light Chronicles and Shadowlock3 writes it (The guy that review pretty much every chapter.) So go check it out and don't forget to tell me what you think of the story, thanks and enjoy this 27th chapter!

* * *

For those of you that have ever been thrust out and into reality very fast, I hope that you never have to experience it. It's a feeling that is only similar to waking up in the middle of a very real dream, or more like a nightmare. In my vison I saw the Espeon fly then a flash and then deep darkness for a split second. Then I felt myself laying flat on my back on a grassy surface.

My whole body suddenly felt drowsy, like I had just been sleeping. The deep darkness was replaced by the normal darkness of closing your eyes. In my drowsy state I heard a pained cry and the sound of something hitting the ground.

"What the..." spoke a very familar voice. I slowly opened my eyes ans looked straight up. Kneling over me I saw Jack and all of his slicked hair, black outfit gothy glory. His emerald green eyes looking down on me with overwelming exitment.

"Night, buddy your okay!" his voice was estatic and very loud. I would ussually yell at him for it, but I was oddly happy to see him too.

Then Vapor's face came into view. Her ocean blue eyes glissening and smile wide "Umbreon! Oh thank you Mew your okay!" she collaped on me, engulfing me in a smothering hug. "I thought my water gun really hurt you." She sweezed me for a good 5 second before being pryed off by Jolt.

"Jeez, give the guy some space" said the jolteon. He turned to me "Good to see ya' up brother."

I turned myself over and got to my (wobbly) feet. I looked down at the green grass; I never thought it would feel that good to see some color again.

Before I could revel at the grass for to long I felt a paw grasp my shoulder. I didn't even have to see who it was to know who's paw it was "Spark, you miss me."

The pikachu laughed "Only as much as you missed me. It's nice to see you conscious again."

I turned and looked at the mouse and smiled, it felt good to see his smile again. It wasn't one that was smiling at another beings misfortune or flaws, but a smile that was smiling at the good qualities in someone. Spark just has that going for him, the lucky bastard.

"Is he up!" yelled a familiar female voice. Ruby broke through the small crowd that had formed around me and barreled right through Razor (Who didn't have time to welcome me back.) Her eyes met mine and for the first time I saw a glint of worry in her. Once she saw me up off the ground she sighed "Oh god. Good, I was worried about you..." she stopped herself, realizing what she had just said. Razor and I exchanged awkward glances, even he was surprised by the fox's sudden display of affection.

But we didn't have much time to think about it as Kat's voice rang out. "What the heck is that!"

We all turned to see what she was screaming at, and once I saw what I felt a rush of adrenaline. Before us stood the one that had cause me to go into a trance, the one that had been playing games with my mind, and the one I had outsmarted. Before us stood him, the Espeon. His once ambient grin was replaced by a look of fear.

While the others stared in awe I stepped forward "Nice to see you again."

The psychic stepped back "Oh come on, you know I was joking. Right?"

I got into a fighting stance "No."

In less than a second I jumped at the Espeon as he tried to run. I managed to get a paw under his leg, causing him to trip. As he hit the ground I started to charge a shadow-ball and by the time stood up I let it loose. The dark engery barreled into him, casuing him to scream in agony.

He staggered, but regained his balance. His blue eyes looking right into mine. The Espeon charged at me with a battle cry ringing out of his mouth. He pounced and was headed right at me. At the last moment I plunged my head forward, hitting him right in his jaw. Once again he yelled in pure pain.

I felt a twinge of sympathy for the psychic, by the sound of his voice he was no older than me, but I shook them away as his limp body settled on the ground. He lay still on the ground, eyes closed.

Jack, being human, jumped on the opportunity. Before I could even react he expanded and threw a poke-ball at the uncontious Espeon. My eyes widened as I realised what had happened as the Espeon was sucked into the poke-ball.

"I don't know what just happend," said Jack "But I just caught an Espeon!"

Stole the words right out of my mouth. And now, whether I liked it or not, my tormentor would now be traveling with me.

_"What a great day..."_


	28. The Resistance: The Campfire

Oh yeah... thus begins another arc, with new characters and two new groups. (One isn't so new.)

* * *

"Wait, wait , wait... let me get this straight Night." said Spark, leaning on a tree his hands on his hips " The Espeon that appeared out of nowhere... came from your mind?"

I sighed, almost tired of explaining to the Pikachu what had happened. It had been a few hours since the espeon was caught and Spark was still bugging me. The sun had gone down and I was now in my domain. Desmond and my sister had gone out to look for firewood and Jack, Katherine, Ruby, and Razor were trying ( and failing) to make a makeshift shelter. This left me, Spark, and Jolt to sit on the sidelines and have a talk.

"No mate, " said Jolt, his accented voice was a stark difference from mine "He's saying that the espeon got in his head and was messing with his thoughts. Then he tricked him a attacked him. Right Night?"

I blinked "Yeah, your right. I'm still trying to figure out why his body apeared in front of us though... I thought that only his mind was in my head, but maybe somehow his body was too." I shook my head, tired of this conversation. It made my head hurt.

Spark yawned and scratch his scarf, "It looks like Jack could use some help with that shelter, I'll go give him a hand." he said before rushing to our trainer's aid.

I heard Jolt laugh "Ah Spark, the guy hasn't changed a bit."

I cocked my head to the jolteon "You know, you never told me how you and Spark know each other."

"Well mate... we've barley talked." replied Jolt.

I smirked "Very true, but would you mind telling me?"

Jolt sighed "Well Night, if it was up to me I would tell you all ya want, but I don't think Spark would be too happy about me spillin' his secrets. If you know what I'm saying."

I rolled my eyes "Yeah I get ya..." I decided to leave it at that and move on to a subject closer to my heart "So, how are you and my sister getting along?" I asked

At that question I saw Jolt's composison change. He started to breath faster and didn't make eye contact with me "She's great." he said curtly.

Wanting to know why he was so nervious I clawed at the subject "How great?"

"Really great."

"Great like... doing the dirty deed great?"

Jolt was taken-aback "No, I would never do that to her. That's your sister!"

I looked at him "But you do like her right?"

The jolteon sighed "Yes, yes I do and very much so. Every time I look into her eyes I feel complete, like anything is possible. She's so kind-hearted and sweet Night. I feel like I love her."

"Okay, okay... way to fast dude. I suggest you give her some time. She's my sister and I know it takes her a while before she can trust someone." I felt good. Jolt seemed like an aright kinda guy and it would be good if Vapor could have someone besides me to confide to. It felt weird to talk to the person that was going to pursue my sister, but I'm glad it was him and not some freak.

The electric dog smiled "Thank you, for the advice I mean."

I waved "Don't mention it... but really don't. My sis wouldn't be to thrilled if she found out you got this from me."

* * *

By the time Desmond and Vapor got back with firewook Jack and the others had completly given up on the shelter. We had all sat down around the fire we had made using the firewood and a blast of ember from Ruby. In a matter of minutes we were comfortable around the fire.

"A night under the sky will be fine." he said.

"Not to mention the fact you couldn't get the tent up." said Desmond, a smirk on his face.

"Whatever Des."

Katherine yawned "What time is it, I'm beat."

Jack looked down, "I don't know..."

At that point I decieded to stop listening to the humans as what they were saying was of no interest to me. Instead I leaned back, and sighed.

Razor looked at me and raised an eyebrow "What's bugging you?" he asked.

"Just thinking... it's just so unlikely."

"What is?"

I coughed and stared into the flame "We have almost all of the evolutions of eevee traveling with us now. It's so rare to even have one, but this group has four."

Razor laughed "I see what you mean, but try not to dwell on it. I've found out that thinking about things we don't understand to much doesn't get anything done. To tell you the truth, I just go with the flow and try to have fun on the way."

"That's a good state of mind, better than mine at least." I replied.

"What's yours?"

"Do what you want and don't let anyone or thing stop you."

"That's not so bad." he said in a light tone.

I looked down "Not if you want the things I want."

Razor was about to say say something again, but he was cut off by Jack. The goth stood up and unclipped a Poke-ball "I think you've had enough time in there." he said. It took me a moment, but I soon realized what he was doing and by the time I did it was too late to stop him.

"Espeon, come on out!" he said in am unnecessarily loud voice. As I watched the psychic materialize in front of me I felt a mixture of emotions that I still cannot understand to this day.

Within 3 seconds I saw him. He still looked the same, his blue eyes still his most striking feature. It was so noticeable in fact, Jack noticed it almost instantly.

"Whoa!" he said, kneling down on a knee "Look at you, your eyes are blue. Thats amazing!"

The Espeon took a step back, a look of slight fear and confusion on his face. "How on earth did I let myself get caught by you." he said.

"You didn't..." I said "I beat your psychic butt."

The pokemon turned his head to me, a calm look on his face. His sharp eyes looking straight into mine and for a split second I felt like I was back in that white landscape and trapped. His calm look transitioned to a grin, that same stupid grin.

"Nice to see you again Night," he peered around, "quite a group we have here."

"I didn't think Espeon's could have blue eyes." said Kat "That's a beautiful Espeon you got there." She scratched Espeon's head "And he's cute too."

Jack looked Espeon in the eyes "You really are a special one aren't you... your eyes make you look smart, like a genius." he said. After a bit of rubbing his chin he snapped "I know what to call you!"

Espeon raised a brow "What?"

Jack smiled "How does Dexter sound?"

"What?" I almost yelled. "Dexter, I get Night and he gets Dexter. What kind off crap is that?" That was not cool, he accually got a name while Spark and I got a noun, unacceptable.

Espeon (Well, Dexter now) flicked his ears and smirked "Dexter, I like it.''

Razor leaned over "I don't see anything wrong with him."

I frowned "He's hiding himself, you'll see just how much he sucks."


	29. The Resistance: Team Rocket

Took another chapter down, we get into another part of the plot in this chapter. Get ready for some action. Please review and make sure to look at the light chronicles.

* * *

We were up at the crack of dawn, as Katherine said she didn't want to spend another night in the forest. Jack and Desmond obviously were not enjoying themselves, but they were manly men and didn't want to announce their discomfort. That's another thing that I've always found weird about humans,even if in discomfort or pain they ignore it simply because they want to appear strong...oh wait. That's just a guy thing.

I looked up at the sky, somewhat happy that the sun hadn't hit it's peek yet. It was the earliest I had ever woke up and I wasn't to excited about it.

"It's so early..." I whined as we walked down the road, the dark barly lit road.

Vapor sighed "It's not that early, your such a whiner. The morning is refeshing and new. It's a new day and facing it is incredible!"

"I completely agree." piped up Jolt from next to her. His face had a wide smile on it, his joy beaming.

Vapor blinked "Okay, good to know that Jolt. I never thought of you as a morning person."

"You think of me?"

Vapor put a look on her face that I had never seen on her before, a mix of fear, confusion, and a slight bit of pleasure. Jolt instantly lowered himself, knowing that he had freaked her out to a good degree. Not a good start for him, but maybe he'll recover, my sister is quite for giving.

I was told that we were now heading to Ceruleon City, the water gym. I was glad and relieved, I wouldn't have to go all god-mode again. Spark would be of use and most likely do most of the work. I was also happy because Jolt could show off to my sister, he was a good guy and he could use this opportunity to impress Vaporeon.

I turned my attention to Razor "Hey, you have any idea how long the trip is to Cerulean city?"

He shook his head "Nope, I suggest you enjoy the sites of the road and be glad that your not in a forest."

I frowned, not satisfyed in the least bit by his answer. My mind sidetracked to Azelf. I hadn't seen the little guy since a few days ago and wanted to talk to him, mostly about how he let me get attacked by Dexter.

I shivered, just the thought of the Espoen sent chills down my spine. I looked back at him, he was walking alongside Jack and Spark and making small talk with the latter. I purposely slowed down to squeeze between Dexter and Jack to get into the conversation.

"You see," spoke the psychic "I didn't think Night would be able to stay sane through my tests and I was quite surprised when he kept his witts about him."

Spark scratched his chin "But... why would you just go into someone's mind? That's very dark of you to do." said the mouse in a subjective tone.

I piped in "Yes, why would you do that Dex? (Gah!.. I gave the ass a nickname.)

He turned to me and put that same god-damned fricken' grin on his face "Simple Night, I'm not a normal Pokemon. I have this bizarre need to know more, almost like humans. I saw you and a light went off in my head. I've always wanted to know about Azelf and the other psychics and you were a way for me to do that."

"So you wanted to use me."

He sighed "Use is such a dirty word," he paused for a second "but yes. And I am sorry for that" his grin widened "Sometimes I just can't control myself."

Both Spark and I put a look off shock on our faces.

"Come on, I'm just messing with you. I did a quick scan of your thoughts and wanted to know more. I'm a curious person."

I frowned, not enjoying talking to my ex-tormentor "Curiosity killed the cat." I said in a smart tone.

He quickly replied "Yes, but satisfaction brought him back."

Spark opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but a yell from Desomnd stoped that.

"Ey!" he yelled in an angry tone "What are you doing!"

I turned my attention to what he was yelling at and was somewhat confused at what I saw. On the side of a road, an open road, where 4 figures. Two were human with matching outfits on, one male and the other female. They had black tops and pants with black berets. The most obvious thing about them and the thing that was easiest to see was that smack dab in the middle of their chest was a red R.

Next to them lay two pokemon. One was familier, a buizel. It was a normal looking one except for on his arm was a black design. Next to him lay a Pokemon that could only be described as a small black and red fox, almost like a vulpix but with less tails.

The male turned to see us. I saw that he had brown hair and and eyes. He looked a little older than Jack. Then the female turned and I saw she was blonde. Her eyes met our group and she put a distressed look on her face.

"Damn it." she cursed "Aaron we have company."

"I know Amber, I can see them." he said to her before turning to us "How are you fine kids today?"

Kat stepped forward "What are you doing to those pokemon?"

The male, Aaron, sighed "Nothing that concerns you. You don't know what's going on and I wouldn't expect you to. So just keep going down the road and just forget about this.

Jack frowned "Sorry punks, we know who team rocket is and I know what you people do."

I leaned over to Spark "Who the hell is Team Rocket."

Spark crossed his arms "They're a criminal syndecate that steals and sells pokemon for a quick buck. They abuse and hurt us without a care."

"Interesting." I replied, not sure how I felt.

Desmond started to walk towards them "I'm giving you scum one chance to turn tail and run, unless you want a tussle I suggest you do so."

"Kid," said Amber" we aren't doing anything wrong," she pointed at the duo on the ground "They are criminals!"

"No we're not!" said the buizel. But he didn't say it in a pokemon tounge, he was speaking human, he was speaking english. The three humans in our group stopped and stared, not beileving what they were hearing.

"Honset to god,we aren't doing anything bad" said the fox thingy "These idiots sedated us, please help!" he said in a desprate voice.

Desmond snapped "Vapor, Jolt lets give these punks a little beating."

Jolt and my sister got behind him, they didn't seem to pleased with the Rocket's either.

"Great" said Aaron as he reached for a poke-ball around his waist "Looks like we have to deal with these punks"

"This is your fault, we should have brought them to the Viridian forest, this place is to open'' he expanded a poke-ball "Crystal, come on out."

"Ace, help me out!" yelled the man.

The two poke-ball went in the air and opened. Red light emitted from both and came to the ground. From the light materialised two pokemon. The first one, aparently named Crystal was (What-do ya know, another freaking eevee evolution!) a glaceon. It's blue fur was a darker fur than Vapor's and it was less fur looking and more like ice. The latter, Ace, was a pidgeotto. It's sharp eyes looked at both of it's enemies and sighed.

"Hmm," said the glaceon, it's voice very feminine "interesting group, I've never seen both a jolteon, vaporoeon, umbreon and espeon in the same place.

Jolt smirked "It's a bit of a curse, miss." he looked at Vapor "You ready?"

She got into a battle stance "Only if you are."

Aaron snaped his fingers "Ace, go up in they sky!" With that the bird , in a burst of speed jetted into the sky and left a wave of dust in it's way.

"Crystal , ice beam the jolteon." the glaceon opened her mouth and let loose a beam of cold energy.

Desmond was completely calm as he said "Jolt, dodge right and Vapor tackle."

Jolt expertly rolled to the right as Vapor charged Crystal. I was surpized at my sister's reletivly fast speed as she ran at her enemy.

The female Rocket widened her eyes "Crystal dodge it!" but she was to slow. Having needed to recover after the ice beam she couldn't move in time and was hit in the jaw with a powerful tackle. She grunted and fell to the ground, belly up. She raised her head and looked up, a smile on her face.

"Why is she smiling?" said Razor out loud.

Aaron snapped again "Ace, use fly!"

Ruby looked up "That's why."

I looked up just in time to see the pidgeotto zoom down with unmeasured speed. Both Vapor and Jolt only had time to look up before the bird slammed down at top speed on Jolt with a terrible crash. Jolt screamed as the bird lowered his head

"Sorry, nothing personal." he said in a smart tone.

Desmond looked at Jolt "Shock im'"

Jolt huffed and replied "Likewise." before unleashing a thunder-shock. The pidgeotto yelled as it was flung back, the attack hitting home hard. As it hit the ground it's trainer gritted his teeth.

"This battle isn't going to well for the rockets." said Dexter "Not very surprising, I've heard that their grunt's aren't well trained."

The injured Rocket's got to their feet, obviously not in good shape. The glaceon could go for a while, but that thunder-shock had done some serious damage to Ace. His feather's were matted and a little burned and his wings were low, being to weak to support themselves.

Crystal turned to her ally, a look of worry on her face "Ace, your hurt. Stop fighting I can handle this."

The bird struggled to catch his breath "I'm fine," he stumbled, but regained his balance "I can still fight."

Apparently their trainers didn't think so. The male frowned "Ace, stand down. Your in no shape to fight." his tone stated that was worried about his Pokemon, surprising coming from criminal.

Amber sighed "You win you punk, Crystal your not fighting these two by yourself. We need to get out of here."

"Oh no." said Desmond "You aren't going anywhere, you hurt those pokemon and..." he stopped himself when he looked at were to the pokemon were. Both the buizel and the fox were gone.

"Damn... they escaped" said Aaron "We're getting an ear-full for this."

He unclipped a small white ball from his belt "I hope we don't meet again, your annoying." and with that the dropped the ball. As it fell a blinding flash and deffenig bang filled the air. I covered my eyes as they were blinded by the light. There was an intense white, then a deep black, then nothing.

As I blacked out the last thing I heard was "We have to get out of here, the Resistance leaders have escaped."

* * *

Who is this Resistance? Why does team rocket want them? Why am I asking questions? Keep reading and find out!


	30. Legendary Dissent part 2: Azelf

Tata! ,here is another Legendary Dissent chapter for all you people that have been waiting for them. I hope you enjoy it and please review, I truly appreciate all of them.

However, before I start this chapter I have a little reward for all those who review. From here on out every now and then I'll be doing a little unofficial poll at the beginning of my chapters. It will only be two things, usually characters, and if you have reviewed you can send me a message saying what is your choice. I will not tell you what the question is, only the answers. **Make sure that you send me a message telling me your choice and not a review**.** You can vote as many times that you have reviewed**. **These polls will decide some things in the story, **so if you vote you will have an impact on the story.

The first one is this

Night

or

Ruby... make your decision and enjoy the chapter.

* * *

I smiled as I looked down at Night, his unconsious form laying still besides the rising and falling of his chest. He almost looked cute, and defenseless. I sighed, his life could have been so normal, so nice. He and the others could have gone on their adventure just like every other caught Pokemon. I wouldn't of had to get him involved if Arceus hadn't been hurt and if he hadn't been chosen we wouldn't be in the situation that we were in then.

I crossed my arms "I should wake him. I need to talk to him."

I'm sure that your wondering where I am at this point. No, I'm not standing on an open road looking down at Night, that would be stupid for a legendary to show itself in public like that. Now what I was doing is hard to explain. I was inside of the umbreon's mind, a blank seemingly neverending landscape. It was almost creepy being inside of someone else's mind, it was always ere.

As my patience grew thin I nudged the dark type "Come on Night, wake up."

After a few kicks the umbreon opened his eyes. The red balls peered up at me and blinked. His drowsy face cocked a bit as he said "Azelf?"

"The one and only, now get your ass up. I need to talk to you."

He slowly got to his feet and shook his head. After a loud yawn and a few blinks he was fully awake.

"Azelf, about time you showed up..." he pointed at himself "Do you know what's happened in the last 2 days? Where the hell have you been?"

I sighed, not in the mood for the loud-mouthed pokemon "I've been busy, I'm sorry to inform you that my whole life doesn't center around you."

He frowned, but sat back. He seemed to realize that I had things to do and excepted it "Fine." he said curtly.

Realeaved that the awkward part was over I changed the subject "I saw that you had a little of a run-in with an espeon. " I cracked a smile after my comment.

Night rolled his eyes "Yeah, it was great. You know I almost went insane in my own mind." he looked around "And why the mew am I back in my subconscious?"

I looked around at the endless white plain "Because I can't show myself in public, Arceus isn't to keen on that. She says we're supposed to be secretive and mysterious."

After my statement I became serious again "But Night, you really need to be vigilant. I can't spend all the time constantly watching you. Don't get me wrong, I like you and everything but I have other things to do."

The Umbreon sighed "I know, what if that was a serious threat and not just some freaky espeon..." he paused to reflect for a moment "If that was a stronger psychic it could have killed me."

I laughed, ''Don't worry, all the psychic's are on your side. You won't have to worry about having your brain being fried. I just wanted to tell you that you should keep your wits about you."

All of a sudden I felt a strong psychic presence enter Night's mind. For a fraction of a second I got scared, but after I recognized the energy I smiled.

"Celebi, nice to see you" I said looking up at the Pokemon. The grass legendary had his (yes his, I know that's hard to imagine. Hell, Arceus is female. Appearances can be deceiving.) arms crossed. His striking blue eyes beamed down at me, it was almost intimidating. It was very out of character to have Celebi make an appearance out of johto so I assumed that something important was about to happen.

Night raised his head "So your Celebi..."

The grass-type psychic turned his head "Yes, I guess you must be the infamous Night." He smirked "Nice to meet you in person, I've heard that you are quite the character."

The dark type bowed his head and sarcastically said "Good to know I'm known amongst the legendaries."

Celebi simply replied "Indeed, but unfortunetly I'm not here for petty talk" he turned to me "Azelf, Arceus wants to see you."

My heart rose, I had been waiting days to talk to Arceus about what was really going on and was beyond happy to find out that I now could. I hid my true excitment as well as I could and coughed "Oh, good" I said nonchalantly "I've been hoping to have a chat with her."

I turned to Night "Sorry buddy, but I can't pass this up."

He sighed "Fine, but if you two leave am I just going to stay here? Cus' that would suck."

I laughed "No of course not, when we leave you will fall back into unconsiuness and wake up when your body has recovered from the shock."

He cocked his head "The shock?"

"Yes, you were hit by a wave of light that was so sudden your body didn't know how to react and you fainted from pure shock." I chuckled at the end of the remark, realizing just how funny it sounded.

Night didn't look to pleased at my comment, but I was sure he would get over it. The umbreon sighed 'Alright, just leave then. I can't wait to wake back up."

I waved at him and peered to Celebi "Okay, lets get going."

"Good, just grap onto me I'll bring you to her." said the grass type.

I apologized him and closed my eyes for the moment of light transportation. I can't tell you what it looks likes because I've never seem it, I just have a fear of it. It's so irrational, but I can have my little things, being a protector of the world is very stressful.

I opened my eyes and looked around my new surroundings. I wasn't were I thought I would be, in fact, I wasn't even in the right state. I was in a deep, beautiful forest with running waters and marvelous colors. Birds flew around singing in cheerful glee. Various types of Pokemon scattered about some stopping to stare and others used to seeing Celebi and me. I had seen all of this before. I wasn't even satisfied with what Celebi had done.

I turned to Celebi "What is this Celebi? Why are we in your forest?" My anger was clear as I clenched my fist, I had been waiting for days to had an audience with Arceus. It was ridiculous.

Celebi looked down, not with shame but in thought. After a few seconds he looked back up "Azelf I need to talk to you..."

I instantly caught his serious voice and toned down my anger "About what?"

He sighed and crossed his arms "I need to talk to you about Arceus and if we can believe her."

My anger came back stronger than before as Celebi spoke his mind, I couldn't stand it. "Why all of a sudden do you think Arceus is lying? She's always been there for us and does everything in her power to help us."

Celebi sighed "Can I explain myself."

"And just how would you, what reason would you have to _hate _Arceus?"

Celebi gritted his teeth "I don't hate her Azelf, I've noticed some things that just don't make sense."

I gave him a cold stare, I could understand Night not trusting Arceus, be never met her. But Celebi? It was unheard of "You do realize that if you go against Arceus everyone will go against you right? Arceus has always been there for us, always helped the world and did whatever was in her power to help! And now, the one time that she needs help you betray her?"

It was Celebi's turn to get angry. His usually calm blue eyes went mad and his fists tightened. "I have not loyalty to Arceus Azelf, I have a loyalty to every Pokemon and human in the world okay. Did you know Arceus put a barrier around the elite four? We can't go there, legendary Pokemon can no longer go there to get whatever she wants there. She is insane, why would you sent some normal group of kids and their Pokemon to do something that we could have done almost instantly? Nothing she is doing makes sense."

"Well then what do you think she was doing huh? What secret plan does Arceus have under her sleves? Why would she possibly profit from sending Night and the others to the elite four."

Celebi looked down "I don't know, but it is bizarre. I just need to know if you trust me Azelf. No one else would even listen to me if I told them what I think and if I do they'll tell Arceus." He sat down on the grassy floor " I need you to promise me that you won't speak a word of this to Arceus."

My anger at Celebi suddenly dissapeared as he made that request to me. I had known Celebi for so long and through all of those years he had never asked me for anything. I looked into his eyes and sighed

"Fine, but I can't go agaist Arceus. I'm sorry." I walked over and place a hand on his shoulder "I gotta get going, I havn't seen my sisters in a while and really want to." I smiled at him "I hope that you can sort out your thoughts and come out on the right side."

As I turned around to walk away I heard his voice say "Same to you old freind."


	31. Cerulean City: The Pokemon Center

Rockin' this story, somewhat of a filler chapter though. I just really needed to get Night and the gang to Cerulean, a place that they will be staying for a good amount of chapters so get ready.

For you few people that still want to read something from me besides this I have a new pokemon story out, check it out.

Oh and by the way please review, I've gotten very little input from you guys and it's kinda bumming me out. Any thoughtfull review is welcome so yeah.

Same question as last time

Night

or Ruby

Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

I was awake, or at least I felt like I was. I could hear various beeping sounds around me. I was on a soft surface and my head was slightly propped up and I felt like I was on a raised surface. After a few seconds of building up energy I opened my eyes and a bright almost blinding light seeped through my eyelids, forcing me to close them again. I shuffled to my side and coughed a dry heaving cough. I tried to open my eyes again an this time was greeted by a pair of familiar dark-blue eyes.

A small smiled worked it's way across my face "Hey sis."

Vapor's face lit up and a wide smile found it's place on her face "Umbreon, about time you woke up." she said with a slight laugh at the end.

I sat up and looked around the room. It was almost exactly the same as the Pokemon center in the Viridian forest. The white walls and floor were slightly uncomfortable and the very bright light only made it worse, but I didn't really care. I could talk to my sister.

"So," I started " How was the family?"

Vapor rolled her eyes "Same old same old, dad got really stressed out when you left though..."

I sighed, not really wanting to talk about my father I changed the subject " Have you seen Espeon since he left?"

Vapor blinked "How do you know that Espeon left? You were long gone before he even came close to leaving."

I flicked my ears and smiled "He sent me a psychic message a few days ago, he said I did well in a battle. I guess he was watching me, a little weird that he was watching me though."

"He cares about you Night" said Vapor leaning on my bed " I think it's sweet."

It was my turn to roll my eyes "Whatever Vapor..."

My sister was about to say something when her eyes looked up and the sound of a door opening echoed through the room. I turned my head to the source and saw that a nurse, one that looked very similar to the one in Viridan looked. She had the same radiant smile on her face as she approached the bed.

"I'm sorry Vaporeon," she said in a sweet voice "but your Umbreon buddy needs to sleep, you're going to have to leave for the night."

I saw my sister's expression sink as she looked at me "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

I waved my hand "No problem."

Vapor smiled and left the room with the nurse. And just like that I was alone.

My mind quickly went to the legendaries and what was going on with them. I was neutral on what I thought about what was going on with Arceus, I didn't have any proof of her doing anything bad. So she was fine with me. The way that Azelf and Celebi talked to each other gave me the idea that they had been close friends for a very long time. I thought it was good that Azelf had a friend , he seemed like he was really stressed out lately and he desperately needs a friend to rely on.

Then my thoughts started to go negative and towards the dog trio. I hadn't thought about them in any detail. Looking back I think I can see why I subconsciously blocked them out because the moment I thought about them and what they could do I was gripped by a fear I had never felt before. It was paralyzing , the simple thought of them had a physical effect on me. They could do terrible things to me and my friends.

I stopped, I had just called them my friends, not Just Spark, but all of them. All of them, save Dexter, had shown me some type of affection or care. Hell, even Katherine and Desmond have shot me caring looks, no doubt they would do anything they could to help me if I got in a jam. The fear that had just gripped me seconds ago was now replaced my a feeling that could only be described as love. I smiled, I felt welcome with them, like a second family.

I just back on my bed and settled in, now very comfortable. And as I closed my eyes my heart felt safe, I felt safe, and I was happy.

* * *

I awoke in a haze, my vision unfocused. I yawned and stretched, somewhat pissed that I had woken up. I never enjoyed waking up, but it's part of life and I've learned to respect it.

I scratched my head and jumped off the bed. The room looked the same as it did when I fell asleep, just a bed and some monitors. I sighed, wondering when the nurse would let me out. I had absolutely no idea what time it was so after waiting for a while I assumed that it was still very early.

Taking matters into my own hands I walked over to the door and looked at the lock. It was a normal door, with just a knob and a turn lock. I scoffed, laughing both at them and myself. The door was lockable from both ways, meaning that all this time I could have easily unlocked it. I quickly unlocked the door and opened it.

The Pokemon center lights were still very much on and very bright, but in the corridor I couldn't see anyone. Perhaps they were in their rooms or something, I didn't really give much attention to them.

I made my way down the hallway, making sure not to be too loud. I was still very aware that I was still suppose to be in my room so I was careful to be as quiet as possible.

As I turned the corner to go into the lobby I almost had a heart-attack. Standing there, leaning on a wall was Dexter, his blue eyes looking straight into mine.

I jumped back "Whoa... dude what are you doing just standing there?" I clutched my chest "I almost fainted you jackass!"

Dexter gave his annoying grin and said "Yeah, when I did a quick scan of your mind I saw that you were prone to fits of fainting." He looked at me up and down "Good to see you up and at um'."

I snarled at him "What, you were bored not being able to torment me?"

The Espeon's grin vanished "Oh Night, no matter what you may think I can say with a straight face that I have no more hostile intentions towards you or this little group of ours."

Night studied his face and saw no sign of him lying "How can I trust you, you know, after you almost drove me insane?"

Dexter frowned and said in a truthful voice "I don't expect you to trust me anytime soon, I just wanted to say you don't need to always keep your guard up around me." He gave a smile "Okay, are we neutral?"

Despite the fact that I had a strong urge to say no I couldn't bring myself to do it. He seemed so truthful and I'm not one to ignore that "Fine..." I said "Just don't try anything and we're fine."


	32. Cerulean City: Night with Razor

Under most circumstances I don't like short chapters but then I would have to use filler to make this one longer and I don't filler.

Here we have a nice conversation between Night and Razor, you get to see what Razor thinks about Night too.

* * *

"Night..."

I groaned not wanting to open my eyes. I had been struggling for hours trying to fall asleep. I felt a nudge in my side and another voice saying "Dude, wake up."

Giving up on my apparently feeble attempt to fall asleep I rose. Shaking my head I looked at the person who woke me.

I sighed "Hello Razor..."

The Bulbasaur was obviously tired, but still managed to smile at me. Razor actually reminded me a little bit of Spark. His smile never seemed fake or planed like Dexter's, Razor's smile was genuine. I saw him give me a once over and check if I was okay. His smiled widened "Morning, good to see your okay and all."

I did a quick scan of the room and saw that everyone else was awake. Jack, Katherine, and Desmond were all talking to the weirdly happy nurse. Ruby and Vapor were talking about what they thought about me ( Or at least I heard my name mentioned) and Spark and Jolt were talking in a faraway corner, most likely about something secretive. No one seemed to be going anywhere at the time so I turned to Razor.

"How long have you been up?" I asked.

He shrugged "I don't know, maybe 30 minutes ago... Katherine asked me to go wake you up."

I coughed " You know, I'm really getting tired of blacking out like that. It's kinda pissing me off. Out of the last six days I've blacked out like four times, I don't understand it."

Razor smirked "Don't worry, that's just your body getting used to the style of life. In about a week you'll be in top condition."

I nodded hoping he was right. Then, as if we timed it I looked over to Ruby just as she looked at me. For a split her brown eyes met my red eyes and we stared. I wasn't sure what feeling I felt but I knew it was like remorse. After a moment I pulled away and brought my attention back to Razor.

The Bulbasaur put a look of concern on his face "You okay Night?" he asked in a worried voice.

I gritted my teeth, my feelings of regret coming back. I still felt terrible for treating Ruby like crap. Never in my life had I ever made someone cry directly and when I looked at her all I could see was that sensitive side of her.

Razor noticed that I was looking at Ruby and sighed "What's up with you and her?"

I pretended to act surprised "What do you mean?"

The grass type smirked "How stupid do you think I am Night, a blind Zubat could notice that you and Ruby have a wish-washy relationship. One second Ruby's worried about you and wondering if your safe and the next she wants nothing to do with you. I can understand that, she's somewhat bipolar. But you Night, I can't figure you out. When we first met you seemed to make it your mission to mess with her. Then when you made her cry it seemed that you saw that this wasn't some big joke to her. I can't expect you to understand right now Night, but that fur on her has labeled her as a monster to her family. They wanted nothing to do with her and when you talked about it like it was nothing it hit a nerve somewhere in her heart that hadn't been touched in months..." Razor stopped for a second before continuing "But don't think I'm scolding you, you have tried to apologize, even though it was the worst apology I have ever seen. My advice is to give it some time, she will eventually forgive you but it takes girls a little longer to forgive you for something. Okay?"

I nodded "Okay, thanks Razor..." I was thankful, now I knew why Ruby seemed to hate herself sometimes. Now I just needed to find out what the big deal was with her fur.

All of a sudden I heard a loud clap. Turning my head I wasn't in the least bit surprised at who had done it.

"Okay guys!" said Jack, his loud voice echoing in the room. "We've decided to give you guys a break, we're in Cerulean city so I want yo guys to have some fun first."

I was surprised, Jack actually seemed to care about what we thought and liked to do. It was weird, but very nice of him.

Razor smirked "It looks like we have a day to ourselves huh?"

I gave a grin in return "Looks like it, and I'm gonna have fun the only way I know how..."

Razor raised a brow "What?"

"Causing Shenanigans..."

* * *

Such a great word Shenanigans...


	33. Cerulean City: The Squad

So, I've been pretty angry at myself for not making longer chapters, so here you are. One of the many, many chapters that I plan to take place in Cerulean City. Let the good times roll.

And the same question as last time

Night,

or Ruby.

* * *

My first reaction the the news was chronicled in the last chapter( these are chronicles so yeah), but my very next reaction was a smile that was wide enough to split my face. I'm sure that it wasn't pretty either. Have you every seen and Umbreon smile really wide? No, you haven't and that is because it is the most unnatural looking thing in the world. I felt a little bad for Razor for having to see me like that, I knew that he was somewhat disturbed by my smile by the way he looked at me.

"Are you okay?" said the Bulbasaur in a somewhat worried voice. He looked at me up and down " I've never seen you smile like that, it's freaking me out a little."

I quickly put my regular non-insane looking expression on and said "Sorry, I was just having a moment..."

"Well try and refocus, we have a day off as you just heard." responded Razor, he let a smile on his face "I'm just happy to be able to do something without Katherine." he paused for a second "Not that I don't like Katherine, it's just that I like being responsible for my own well being."

"You don't have to explain to me Razor, I'm in the same camp you are." I quickly said.

"Hey guys!" said Jack in a very loud voice. He stood next to the other two humans with his black jacket and pants pointing him out like a sore thumb. He continued "So, it is 8:30 right now okay. Now you guys can do what you want as long as it is legal."

"This is very important. Before you do something ask yourself if it is legal...legal." added Desmond , his comment directed as his own Pokemon.

"Okay," proceded Jack "We want you guys back at the pokemon center by 12 tonight okay. We want you guys to have fun, I know we will so we're giving you as much time as possible."

"And" interrupted Katherine "Make sure not to kill each other okay Rubes..." Ruby rolled her eyes, hearing this comment before.

"Alright, any questions?" said Jack stupidly. After a moment of awkward stares by everyone in the Pokemon center Jack had an epiphany "Oh yeah, you guys can't speak human... my bad guys."

I lowered my head in embarrassment for my trainer " Jack you poor dolt... you poor, sad, stupid dolt."

"Alright guys, you are fee to have fun. Now go, you have more than 12 hours so pace yourself." said Kat.

* * *

"I don't want to go with him." was the very first thing that Ruby uttered to second we left the Pokemon center " No offence Night, I just want to have fun and I can't see myself doing that with you."

I blinked "'Kay, I'm fine with that."

"I think we should go in groups." suggested Spark "We'll be traveling together for the foreseeable future so I think we should get to know each other."

"I'm fine with that." said Vapor, she looked at me "Sorry Umbreon, but I think I want to go with Ruby. I'll enjoy myself more if I'm with another girl."

"I'll go with them as well..." spoke Dexter, the Espeon looking around at everyone "I know that Night and I don't have the best past and I do want this to be as fun as possible, so I'll go with the girls to prevent awkward moments." he turned to the girls " As long as it's okay with you guys."

"Sure, I don't mind." said Ruby.

"Fine, so it's Ruby, Dexter and I." spoke my sister "that leaves Night, Spark, Razor and Jolt."

Spark, Jolt , Razor and I simply looked at each other and shrugged, none of us had any problems with anyone so we just agreed.( But I think that none of us wanted to go against Ruby, so far we had seen that that was not a wise thing to do. You have to pick your battles)

"No problem, we can have a guy's day out." said Razor with a smile "Could be fun. And I haven't got the chance to talk to Jolt yet so I'm fine with it."

"I'm cool with it." I said.

"Okay, sure. I need some time off anyway." said Jolt, he peered over at Spark "And I'm sure you can."

Spark rolled his eyes "Yeah, I guess."

Ruby sighed "Well, even though I'm enjoying this dull conversation I want to get going, I still have no idea what to do in this city. We havn't even been here for a day yet, there's to many things in human cities like this."

"I agree with you" curtly said Dexter. "But with all of this stuff there has to be something to do... anyway bye guys."

My group waved goodbye to theirs and watched them go around the corner.

"So..." said Razor looking around at the vast city that surrounded us "Anybody have any ideas."

Jolt spoke up "I think I might know a place, I spent a little time in Cerulean city before. Desmond and I didn't have time to stop by last time we were here, but it looked like a cool place."

I stopped paying attention to what they were saying right about there, not because I wasn't interested but because of what I thought I saw. It was fairly empty on the street with only a few people and Pokemon trotting around doing various things. However, out of the corner of my eye I saw someone that I never thought I would see again, or at least I thought I saw her.

"Ferne?" I said in a normal tone, completely out of the blue. I felt a strong urge to quench my curiosity and go after her , but couldn't do it.

"Night?" quesitoned Spark "Who's Ferne?"

I sighed "Nothing, I just thought I saw an old friend." I geared the conversation away from me and back to what we were going to do today, not wanting to talk about my past all that much.

"So..." I said "Where we going guys?"

Spark gave one look at me and understood that I didn't want to talk about it and replied "We're going to this place that Jolt said he remembered. Hopefully it won't suck."

"Look mates, I'm telling you that this will be so much fun." said Jolt "It's kinda like a Pokemon Club."

I blinked, slightly unimpressed "That's great."

"It is." replied the English Jolteon, not catching my sarcasm. Jolt turned his head and said "I'm pretty sure it's this way, lets get going."

I don't know why Spark and Razor followed the Jolteon, perhaps they thought it would be fun or something. I was only following because I couldn't think of anything better to do for the life of me. As we were walking through the increasingly crowded streets of Cerulean city I started to think about the last few days and all the events that had taken place in them. Just seven days ago I was living by myself in the forest fending off random wild Pokemon to keep my small turf of land. To tell you the truth, my life sucked. In fact, it was absolutely horrible.

Then I got captured out of the blue by Jack and Spark. I remember that when I first met the two they annoyed me more than anything, but after a week of getting to know them I saw that Jack was good as far as humans go and that Spark was probably the nicest Pokemon that I'd ever had the pleasure to meet.

Razor had said before that it should take me about a week to adjust to living life as a captured Pokemon, and it seemed that he was right.

I tuned back into the conversation as my thoughts faded away in the depths of my subconscious. I had been so deep in my thoughts that I bumped into a passing pokemon.

"Sorry." I said curly, saying just enough to be polite.

"No problem I-" he paused.

I turned to the Pokemon and had a feeling of surprise as I saw a somewhat familiar face. "Hey, you're that Buizel right?" Razor, Jolt, and Spark all turned around with their attention on the Buizel.

The water weasel smirked "Yeah," he pointed at Jolt "and you are that Jolteon that saved my ass on the road."

Jolt shrugged "I guess I am, good to see you're alright lad."

The Buizel laughed 'I'm more than just okay because of you and my buddy and I never got the chance to thank you." said the perky Buizel, he held out his paw to me. "Sorry that I bumped into you, the name's Eric."

I politely shook it not wanting to make a crappy first impression, I'm pretty good at those (Examples : Spark, Jack, Katherine, Ruby... Dexter) "I'm Night."

"I go by Razor." said Razor (Duh)

"I'm Spark," started the Pikachu " and this is-"

"Jolt." interrupted the Jolteon, "I'm Jolt."

Eric smiled "Well, it's great to meet all of you. Jolt, you are a friend of Team Resistance and so are all of you."

Razor blinked "Team Resistance? The heck is that."

Eric put a look of slight surprise on his face "Oh, you haven't heard of us. Then you guys gotta come with me, I can explain everything." he stopped himself "That is, unless you have something to do."

Jolt was about to say yes but I quickly spoke "No... not at all. We have the whole day to ourselves."

The Buizel put his paws on his hips " You do? That's weird, usually cappies never have time to themselves."

I put it in my mental bank to ask Eric latter about what cappies meant, I didn't like it though. It sounded a tad so much like crappies and those aren't all that pleasant. Despite the stupid nickname that he had called us, Eric seemed like he was okay and I did want to do something besides go to some Pokemon Club. Everyone else looked like they wanted to go with him. We all looked at each other and nodded.

"Sure, we'll come." said Spark "Could be fun."

Eric gave a fist pump "Awesome, okay come with me. I know a nice shortcut."

The Buizel completely turned around and went straight into an alley. We followed, but slowly and for good reason. Unlike most of the city, the alleys were disgusting. It was dark with dirt and trash was littered everywhere. Urban Pokemon sat on the sides , leaning on walls, glaring at us as we passed. I felt fear in my body as one particularly large Zangoose smirked at me, showing his (Well, I hope his) blackened, dirty teeth.

"Don't worry," reassured Eric "They won't hurt you, you're with me."

As if on cue there was a voice that yelled out "So what if they're with you?"

All of us looked in the direction of the voice and Eric was the only one that didn't giggle. Why did we giggle you ask. Well, you look straight at a group of Squirtles in black hipster sunglasses with their arms folded and keep a straight face.

"What are you laughing at cappy?" said a male Squirtle with a scowl.

"What does that even mean?" said Jolt with a confused look on his face.

Eric quietly whispered "It means you got captured. Not a great thing to most non-tamed Pokemon."

Razor smirked, his giggling still going on and said "And who are these idiots? Do you guys think you're cool or something?"

A female Squirtle stepped forward "Who are we? Who are we!" she raised an arm and make a fist and said "We are-

All 5 of the Squirtles said at once "The Squirtle Squad!"

Of all the ridiculously stupid things that I have seen idiots do in my entire life that just might be in the top ten. Jolt, Spark and Eric managed to control themselves, but Razor and I had a slightly smaller amount of self control and started laughing. And I'm not talking about those little chuckle thingies , I mean a full out eyes tearing up lungs hurting laughs. I literally could not breath for a good few seconds.

"What..." said Razor between laughs " Are these guys serious?"

"Oh my god." I said clutching my gut " I can't- I can't... oh god." I got over myself and managed to get myself to stop laughing.

The Squirtle Squad didn't seem to pleased with Razor and I's sudden outburst. A male one pointed at us and said "Are we going to let these punks laugh at us!"

"No!" yelled the rest of them.

"Then let's show 'em!" yelled the same one. He put his fists up and let go a smirk "Let's do this."

Eric sighed "Looks like we have to deal with these guys." he looked at us "You okay to fight."

"Of course." said Spark answering for all of us "Plus, I doubt you can take on all five of them by yourself."

The Buizel nodded " Alright then, get ready. The Squirtle Squad is funny, but they are tough."

Almost out of nowhere all five of the water turtles extended their arms and shouted "Water Gun!" on command 10 jets of water shot out of the Squirtles hands at high speeds heading right at Razor. The Bulbasaur didn't even have time to blink before all of the blasts barreled into his chest. He gave a scream as he was forced to a wall and was pinned by the high-speed water jets.

"Crap..." I said to myself as I charged a shadow ball. Apparently the Squirtles saw me and one of them pointed it's jet of water at me. With deadly accuracy he sniped my shadow ball, causing it to explode in my face (Which hurts very much.)

I stumbled back and saw Eric make a move out of the corner of my eye. The Buizel charged the group of turtles with an Aqua jet. He seemed to materialze water under him and collided straight into the Squirtles sending them into disarray.

Jolt saw his chance and yelled out "Eric back up!"

Eric listened and stumbled back just in time to avoid Jolt's Thunderbolt attack. The bolt of electricity hit the turtles directly causing multiple screams of pain.

"Geez Jolt..." said Eric as he got to his feet "Cool down, don't kill them."

The least of Jolt's problems was worrying whether he had killed the Squirtle Squad. Before the electric dog could even react a thin, but solid stream of water hit Jolt right in between the eyes. The water seamed to explode as it hit the Jolteon's face. He bounded back and hit the ground more dazed than hurt.

One Squirtle was standing up as his comrades struggled to their feet. He had a finger pointed at Jolt, most likely the source of the water.

That is when I noticed that Spark was gone, like just gone. However, I didn't have to search for long.

"Hey!" yelled Spark as he seemed to fall from the sky. All the Squirtles looked up just in time to be hit with a thunder-wave. They all froze up, paralyzed. The Pikachu smirked as he saw the water turtles fall into paralysis . "You guys give up, I don't want to have to hurt you."

Spark got his answer as a female Squirtle broke free of the paralysis and slugged Spark across the face causing him to stagger back. At first I'm sure that Spark didn't think of getting punched to be a good thing, but as Razor let loose a razor-leaf he was counting his blessings.

To put the icing on the cake I charged the Squirtles with intentions to give them a good beat-down. But as I gave my first swing my paw was surrounded by dark energy, the same stuff shadow-balls are made of. As I hit the first turtle there was a devastating crack and the Squirtle flew through the air and crashed into a wall. She slid down to the ground and lay unconscious.

"Okay, okay!" yelled one of the Squirtles "You win."

I looked at them and saw that fear gripped all of them and their eye's were pleading the let them go. To tell you the truth, I was scared at what I just did. I was so frozen in terror at what I just did that I couldn't even answer.

"Take your friend and go, and remember what happened here." said Eric in a threatening voice. Within seconds the other four turtles had picked up their partner and fled.

I was still unable to move in pure fear as I looked at my paws. I remembered doing something like that do Dexter in my subconscious, but I thought that was only because I was in my mind. That attack was devastating, no wonder he was so weak when I fought him.

"Night... you okay?" asked Razor as he got closer to me.

I shook my head and snapped myself back into reality "Yeah, I'm fine."

Eric spoke up "That was one hell of an attack Night, but I think we should get going. I still have a place to show you."

"Well this city is great..." said Spark with sarcasm.

"Only here for a few hours and we've already had a fight," continued Jolt " We're gonna have a time here lads."

* * *

Time for some foreboding questions. What is Night's mysterious new attack? Who is Team Resistance? Who is Ferne? All these questions will be answered (Hopefully) next chapter! I hope that I can update faster than last time.


	34. Cerulean City: Team Resistance

The adventures in Cerulean continue so that's nice. This is the last chapter that I will put up this current question, I think it's time that I move on to the next one. You can continue to vote for this one until next chapter is posted to if you haven't voted I suggest to do it.

So for the last time

Night

or

Ruby...

* * *

"And here it is!" exclaimed Eric, the buizel's arms open wide in a presenting manner "Team Resistance Cerulean headquarters."

To tell you the truth, it was slightly better than what I expected. I thought it would be some run-down horrible place that was one step higher than a dirty cardboard box. It was in an alley, not as bad as the one before but still a little stinky. On the outside there was a large Machoke screening those who could and could not enter. His voice was deep and rough as he judged whether or not you were worthy enough to enter.

"Sorry kid, there's no way on Mew's earth I'm letting you in here." said the Machoke "Now beat it."

The Geodude he was talking to slumped and walked away murmuring several words that weren't all to friendly.

"Hey Choke!" yelled Eric at the Machoke, the Buizel but his paws on his hips.

The Machoke looked down at the weasel and instantly changed his demeanor from a tough guy to something that resembles a puppy. "Oh, hello Eric. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Eric motioned to us "I just showing some new friends a good time."

Choke stepped aside "I hope you have a good time, and good to meet you. Any friends of Eric are welcome here."

Jolt smiled and nodded "Good to know." as he passed the Machoke.

As we entered the building I was surprised to say the least. It was a lounge of sorts with soft lighting and slow music. Very nice tables were situated in spots around the space and there was a dance floor in the middle. On the side there was a bar with stools and a bartender. It was well populated with about 20 to 25 pokemon in there all of them spread apart throughout the club. The moment Eric entered the room almost everyone there greeted his with a folly hellos and what's ups. The Buizel smiled and waved at them as he made his way to the back of the club. Razor, Spark, Jolt and I followed him not wanting to get lost in the crowd.

"You used to this kind of attention?" I asked Eric."

Without turning around the buizel said " Yep, I told you. Team Resistance is pretty big."

We continued to follow Eric into a small area in the back of this club. Waiting for us was another Machoke that simply moved out of the way and opened a curtain when he saw Eric. Behind the curtain was another Pokemon that I had seen before. The black fox thingy that was with Eric when I first saw him. I scanned my mind for what this race was called and remembered the name Zoura.

The small fox smirked when he saw Eric "Good to see you Eric," his voice was mature, despite the fact that he looked very young. His vision shifted to me and my friends ( Wow, friends... still getting used to that.) "Who are your buddies?"

Eric stepped aside to look at us "This is Razor, Jolt, Spark and Night," he said pointing to each of us. "Jolt is the one that helped us get away from those Team Rocket idiots. Boys, this is my partner in crime Zain."

Zain smirked as he looked at us "Good to meet you, you're always welcome here. Once you're a friend of the resistance you always are."

"Yeah, about that..." started Razor "What does Team Resistance do?" The bulbasaur had asked a question that I was pretty sure everyone wanted to.

Eric crossed his arms and said "I'm glad you asked," he motioned to a couch " take a seat."

We all got comfortable on the piece of human furniture as Eric continued.

"A pokemon rescue team is a group of pokemon that band together for the good of all other pokemon and that is what we do." said Eric, sitting down next to Zain.

"You see, we fight against organizations that want to just use us like Team Rocket. Only issue is that we've gotten strong enough to cause big problems for them, so now they're trying to capture us."

"Which is why those Team Rocket grunts were trying to capture you off the side of the road." said Jolt.

"Exactly..." responded Zain "We were in quite the pickle there. If you guys hadn't come in and kicked ass we'd be in some Rocket detainment facility."

Spark shrugged "Don't worry about it, we would have done the same for anyone."

Eric smirked and for the first time I realized that he had unbelievable charm. From his guards that respected him to the fact that the Pokemon in the back alleys wouldn't touch him it was apparent that the Buizel had a lot of friends. However from what Zain had said I was sure that Team Resistance had some enemies.

The Machoke from before poked his head into the back area and said in a meek voice "Zain, Eric... Violet and Nero are here to see you."

Eric sat up and clapped "Excellent, bring 'em in please."

The Machoke nodded and allowed the two in. Within moments a couple of Nidoran, one male and the other female. The male looked around the room and caught eyes on my group. With a snarl he said "Who are you?"

I felt like the question was directed at me and felt the need to answer "Well... I'm Night and this is Spark-"

"I'm sorry, let me rephrase that. Why the hell are you here?" spoke the Nidoran, his voice rising with irritation and anger.

The female Nidoran stepped in and said "Shut-up Nero." she looked at our group "Sorry for my brother's rudeness, it's been a long day." she finished with a smile.

"Whatever," sneered the male Nidoran turning away from us to look at Eric and Zain "We got the job done, I'm fairly sure that Team Rocket trusts us."

Eric stood up and clapped "Perfect, excellent job you two." he turned to Zain "Told you this idea would work."

Zain frowned "We still aren't sure if it's successful yet."

"Um..." said Spark cautiously as he raised a paw "Not to be intruding or anything. But what didn't you just say Team Rocket hates you?"

Zain sighed, he looked like he didn't feel like saying anything but felt obligated "I shouldn't tell you, but we do have a plan to take down Team Rocket, or at least get them off our backs."

"And what would this plan be?" I inquired.

Eric confidently smiled and leaned back "Simple, we get two operatives to gain Team Rocket's trust." he held up a fist and tightened it "Then we take them down from the inside."

"That's a very dumbed down version, but basically that's it." started Zain "That's excluding the months of preparation and weeks of finding recruitment centers. Not to mention that we had to train Nero and Violet and make sure that Team Rocket never see's them with us."

"Yeah and that too..." stated Eric. He turned to my friends and I "Not to be rude, but there are somethings that we do need to discus without you. So can you please leave, you can go to the actual club part and take a load off."

Jolt shrugged "Sure, I don't mind. We are guests."

Zain nodded "Yeah, go and enjoy yourselves. And thanks again for saving us... we still owe you one."

* * *

And there we are, chapter 34. I know this one is a good bit short, but I didn't want to add it to the last chapter and the next chapter needs to be more focused (on something that will be VERY important to the storyline) Also, next time there will be a new question.


	35. Cerulean City: Flashback

Right, a new chapter and a new question. Since you can probably tell from the chapter title, we have a new character in the mix in addition to the two I introduced last chapter. So to introduce this _very _important character (_hint, hint)_ we have another unofficial poll.

Okay here we go

Ferne,

or Violet.

Make your choice and enjoy the chapter.

* * *

After being asked politely to leave we had a pretty good idea of the kind of company we were in. These were rebels, Pokemon that were doing what the police seemed afraid to do. They were defying Team Rocket and they didn't look scared at all. They were enjoying themselves and life, something about that was amazing.

"Hey!" yelled the bartender, a Mankey. He motioned to our group "Come over here!"

All four of us made our way across the room to the bar. We vaulted ourselves onto stools and got comfortable.

"You're that Jolteon that helped out Eric and Zain right?" questioned the bar-keep.

Jolt nodded "Yep."

"You really did a great thing there, you're a hero."

Jolt shrugged "I wouldn't say that chap, I didn't do it alone. And I'm sure anyone would have done the same thing."

The Mankey shrugged "Maybe, but you did it and I want to show my thanks..." he expertly slid 4 drinks down the bar table, each one stopping in front of each of us.

"Drink up, " said the bartender with a smile "It's on the house."

Razor nodded "Thanks man," he gave a wide smile "Wow, now we're getting free stuff. I guess being your friend really pays off Jolt."

Jolt picked up his glass and raised it "Thank you chap, good to know I'm appreciated."

I sighed as I went into a state of deep thought. I had let it slip my mind, but I couldn't ignore it anymore. I know that I saw her, I saw Ferne. Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking, 'Hey Night, tell us about Ferne.' You humans drive me crazy sometimes with your need to know everything. Fine, to satisfy your hunger for knowledge I'll tell you... actually never mind that, I won't tell you.

I'll give you a flash-back

* * *

I remember it clearly as if it was yesterday, hell it almost was. It was a morning last spring and I was doing what I did every morning before I got captured, going down to the pond to get a morning drink. I know it's hard for you humans to understand this but when you don't live in a place where you can just go to a sink and get some water is hard to imagine. I would go down to that pond several times a day to get water and I would enjoy the walk there.

The area around Pallet town is an absolutely wonderful place to live if you love nature. The scent of trees and plants fill the air every morning as the world woke up. I would nod to the various Pokemon that weren't hostile and say good morning. I never became more than a face to most of them, I kept my distance from them most of the time. All except for a certain Rattata family. I don't know why, but they just seemed like the perfect family.

That morning I saw the mother Rattata and approached her with a smile "Good morning."

She gave a wide smile "Oh, hello Umbreon. How are you this morning." her voice was calm and welcoming, soothing and loving like my mother's.

I shrugged "I'm alright, just going down to the pond for a drink. How are you?"

She sighed "I'm okay, but " she looked down "I don't know were Scrat went?"

"Your son?" I inquired "What do you mean?"

"It's just that I sent him over and hour ago to get some berries and he still hasn't come back..." she said in a worried tone.

I smiled to reassure her "How's about I stop by on my way back from the pond and check the berry bushes."

Mrs. Rattata's eyes lit up "You would do that?"

I nodded "Of course, why not."

She grasped my paw "Thank you Umbreon, please see if he's alright. I need to take care of the other children." she nodded "Thank you."

"No problem." was the last thing I said before departing to my destination.

It only took me a few minutes until I reached the small pond. As usual, there were several Pokemon already there drinking water. I curtly said hello to all of them before getting a quick driink from the pond. I would usually stay longer than that, but I had Scrat on my mind. I liked the little Rattata and I hoped he was alright. It can be dangerous for a small Rattata like him around here.

I stood up from the pond and started to walk to the Oran berry bushes, brushing aside the foliage and avoiding the trees I quickly made my way to the bushes.

_'Hope the kid's alright' _was the only thought that crossed my mind as I got closer. With my observant ears I heard a commotion going on near the berry bushes. In a worried dash I rushed to the bushes, fearing the worst and hoping for the best.

"Aw crap." was all I could say as I saw what was going on. By himself fighting off a gang of Weedle was Scrat in all of his scruffy glory. From the looks of things he was fighting a losing battle and he had a few poison stings on him that looked infected.

I growled and yelled out "Hey! What are you doing!"

The Weedles looked up at me in fear, one even shouted "Oy! It's that Umbreon. Get outta' here!" Within a matter of seconds all the Weedles had fled, leaving me and the injured Rattata alone. I rushed over to him as he looked up at me.

"Thanks Umbreon..." said Scrat between breaths "If you hadn't of come they might of-"

I hushed him by placing my paw on his mouth "Quiet, you're hurt and you look pretty poisoned." I looked around to find a Pecha berry and gave it to him "Eat it, it'l cure the poison."

Scrat looked at the berry with worry "Are you sure?"

I smiled and nodded "Very."

"Hey! Umbreon!" yelled a voice.

I turned around to see that the 3 or 4 Weedle had joined back up and were approaching "We aren't afraid of you anymore!" yelled the leader.

I didn't show it, but at that moment I was scared out of my mind. I had never fought more than 2 Pokemon at once and this was four at once. Scrat wouldn't be able to help so it was just going to be me.

Without backing down I stepped in front of Scrat "Stay back buddy, I'll handle this." If I was going down I wanted to make sure Scrat got away.

The leader Weedle smiled "Kill him."

I stood my ground and waited for the worst, but to my pleasure it never came. Like a gust of wind a barrage of razor leaves hit the bunch of Weedle. They all fell over, knocked unconscious by the sudden attack.

Scrat grabbed onto me "What was that."

"Don't be scared." said a soft female "I'm not going to hurt you."

I turned to the source of the voice to face the speaker. I was quite astonished to see a female leafeon with a red bandanna around her neck. She had a young look about her, but she didn't look naive. She took a step at us, her deep brown eyes staring at me and said "You boys okay?"

I smiled and laughed "Yeah, thanks miss."

She nodded "Anytime, and don't call me miss. It makes me feel old." The leafeon paced over to the unconscious bunch of Weedle and shrugged "Yeah they're out cold. You boys are lucky I came along...

* * *

"Oh thank you so much," yelled Ms. Rattata as she hugged her son "You had me so worried you know that?"

"Sorry mom, it's just that-"

Ms. Rattata placed a paw on Scrat's mouth "Shhh, don't try to explain now. Just go over to the den and rest okay."

Scrat sighed and nodded "Okay mom," he turned to me and the leafeon "Thanks for saving me back there."

The leafeon nodded "Anytime, and try to stay out of trouble. I might not be there to save you next time." And with that both the Rattata retreated into their den, leaving me alone with the leafeon.

"Well," I said awkwardly "Thanks for that, even though I could have handled it myself."

She raised a brow "Oh, you could've eh?"

I smirked "Of course, it was just a few Weedle. Nothing I can't handle" I said continuing my lie.

Leafeon giggled "Sure whatever Umbreon..." she paused for a second "You know you have an interesting personality."

I shrugged " I get that sometimes, usually people find it annoying."

The leafeon got closer and said "I don't, in fact I think it's kinda cute."

At that I blushed pretty good, so bad it probably showed through my fur "Well, thank you. I really should be going back to my territory though."

Leafeon nodded "And I should get going too... but how about I walk you back. We can finish this little talk of ours."

I had no objection to that "Sure, I wouldn't mind some company."

As we started to walk we continued our conversation "So Umbreon, how long have you been living out here? This isn't best area if you want to avoid trainers." asked leafeon.

"I left my family a month or two ago, my choice. And I know they're a lot of trainers in this area, but they're nothing I can't handle." I responded with a confident tone "What are you doing here?"

She sighed "I'm just traveling... trying to find some people... but it's good to talk to someone," she beamed at me "Thanks for this, I haven't talked to anyone in weeks."

I raised my brow in surprise "You haven't talked to anyone in weeks, well it's good you met me then" I said "I'm a talking machine."

She giggled a laugh that made me feel good, the only people that I had really had a prolonged conversation with are the Rattatas. Not that they aren't good company, it's just that I like to have more people to speak to is all.

I stopped at my small clearing in the woods and said "Well, here it is, my bachelor pad." It was a small 30-35 feet wide clearing with various plants and rock slaps about it. "So... whatdoya think?"

She smiled and took a few steps in "I love it, you have yourself a nice life here Umbreon."

"Well thank you leafeon."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I never told you my name..." said leafeon with the flick of an ear "Call me Ferne."

I nodded "Ferne... nice name, it fits you."

She gave another smile, a smile that was just as real as she was. I didn't realize it at the time, but we were getting to know each other and I was having the time of my life.

"Well... this was nice Umbreon, but I really should get going." said Ferne with a frown "I have to get to Cerulean."

I sighed "You sure?"

She smirked "Yeah... I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer."

I paced over to her "No no it's alright, I wouldn't want to keep you in my humble clearing." I reasured her "Thanks for the conversation, it was nice."

"I was , wasn't it..." She looked around before walking towards the road "Maybe I'll stop by sometime, we can have another talk."

"That'd be nice." I said truthfully.

Ferne smiled one last time "It would, wouldn't it."

* * *

And there you go you curious little demons, that's how I know Ferne. Yeah, not as exciting as you thought it would be eh? Well, that's what I've been thinking about just that one conversation I had with a nice girl in a forest near Pallet town. Not any one night stand or secret romantic escape, just a little talk.

I leaned back in the bar stool, still deep in thought about that girl that I let get away. She said she was going to Cerulean, so it wouldn't have been a long shot to see her. Only problem was that I had talked to her a few months ago and it was very unlikely that she would have stayed for that long.

However, as I scanned the room someone caught my eye. In the corner of the room I saw a red bandanna around the neck of a leafeon. As if we planed it, I looked at her eyes as she looked at mine. There was no doubt in my mind at that point, that was the girl I had been thinking about, the one that I thought got away.

It was Ferne.


	36. Cerulean City: The Deadly Decision

Enjoy this one ,this is when stuff gets serious and Night and the gang get placed in life or death situations. In fact, this chapter is so serious I need to introduce a new narrator. Be warned, things get bloody here. Still teen rated, but not for the very squeamish

Same question as last chapter

Ferne (Who you get to know this chapter)

and Violet (Who will get A LOT of exposure later

Enjoy!

* * *

I couldn't believe it, there was no doubt now that was Ferne. She hadn't changed at all, she still had that some red bandanna around her neck and her brown eyes still shimmered with a quiet fury. She had a thoughtful look on her face, as if she was contemplating something very serious. My body froze once I realized what was going on. Before that moment I didn't know what to call the feelings I felt towards the leafeon, but now I know just what to call it.

I was falling for her. And falling hard.

"What a second guys..." I said in a distracted voice as I hopped off my barstool "I gotta go for a minute."

I heard Razor ask "What?" as I walked towards Ferne in an almost comatose state. I didn't care about what they thought, at that moment all I wanted to do was talk to Ferne again. As I approached my old conversation buddy I felt as if I somewhat expected to see her here in Cerulean, almost like she knew I would come for her eventually.

When I was within a few feet of her she was still in deep thought, sitting at that table. I got right in front of me and said with a smiled "I'm sorry miss, but would you happen to know where the bathroom is?"

Ferne shrugged "I'm sorry sir but I'm in a little-" she stopped the moment she looked up and saw me. Her expression changed from a look of deep thought to one of surprise. Her eyes widened and a slight smiled worked it's way onto her face. For just a second, she had a smile on her face and I felt like I has back in the forest with her.

Then in an instant her expression went to one with worry, she looked around the room and asked "What are you doing here?"

I smiled "I was in town and just saw you so..."

"You have to get away from me." said Ferne.

"What?"

She looked behind me and yelled "Duck!" What happened next was a series of events that would have caused my death. Ferne, despite saying get down, didn't seem to trust my reaction time and pulled me down with a jerk. As I fell towards her I felt something swipe past the back of me head and nick me. I fell onto the table and flipped it over on it's side and with a crash the room went quiet. A screeching scream echoed through the room as I turned around and saw what was facing me. Standing over me was a Sneasel with blood smeared on one of it's razor sharp claws.

That's when I felt something wet going down my neck, fearing the worst I felt my paw to the back of my head and brought it back in front of me. I froze when I saw blood on my paw. It took me a moment to realize it, but that Sneasel had just tried to kill me. Then without warning the rival dark pokemon lunged at me.

I felt Ferne chop me on the my collar bone and my legs fell out from under me, just in time to have me avoid another swipe from this assassin-like character.

"Night!" yelled Spark's voice from across the bar as Ferne jumped in front of me. I saw the Sneasel go for another deadly swipe but Ferne ducked under it with dexterity I had never seen before. Then she gave a flick of her wrists and brought her paws to each of the Sneasel's knees. The Pokemon screamed in agony as the leafeon pulled her arms away from the Sneasel, blood trailing from her paws. My blood ran cold as I saw what seemed to be blades sticking out of Ferne's wrists. The Sneasel fell down, writing in pain.

Ferne turned to me "Follow me."

I had a look of pure fear on my face "What?"

"If you don't follow me you're dead Umbreon, now come on!" yelled Ferne in a more demanding voice. The quiet, kind leafeon I knew in the forest was gone.

Without protest I followed her out of the bar just as someone yelled "Someone get some help!" I followed Ferne outside of the bar, by then it was mid day and there were still Pokemon waiting to get inside. Ferne looked around and ran deeper into the alleyways and I still followed. She ran until she reached a corner, turned it and suddenly stopped. She turned around with a look of distress on her face. "Are you okay, how's your head?" She reached back and sighed "That's not looking too good, I'll need to patch that up."

I was still in so much of a state of shock I could't even say anything. Then without warning Ferne's expression went back to a serious one and she slipped past me and put her back to the wall. A moment after I heard the faint sound of approaching steps. After a second or two a figure came around the corner and Ferne attacked. She swiftly swung her forearm out and slammed it into the figure's face and pinned the Pokemon down. It was when she got on him was when I saw who it was.

"Razor?" the Bulbasaur was laying under Ferne with a bloody nose and a blade in her face. He was shivering and looked at me "N-Night, y-y-you know h-h-h-e-her?" shuddered the Bulbasaur. I saw Jolt and Spark peek their heads around the corner with curiosity on their faces

I sighed "Ferne it's okay, they're with me."

Ferne looked slightly embarrassed as she stepped off Razor "Sorry, I assumed the worst."

Spark approached me and demanded "Night, what the hell was going on back there?" He didn't look angry, he looked more worried then anything. His eyes widened when he saw blood going down my neck "You're bleeding!"

I gulped and nodded "Yeah..."

That was when Ferne stepped in to quell the situation "Don't be mad with him, if anything this is my fault. I shouldn't of let Umbreon get involved."

"Get involved with what exactly?" questioned Jolt "And who are you?"

The female leafeon sighed "All I can say is that my name is Ferne, I can't tell you anything else."

"Why?" asked Razor.

"Because if I told you anymore it would put you in more danger." replied Ferne with a very stern look on her face.

I spoke up "Wait, wait , wait... what do you mean _more _danger, am I already in peril?"

Ferne turned to me with a look of regret "I'm so sorry Umbreon, but they're watching me and the fact that you talked to me makes you a contact. They're after me, and they'll go to you to get to me and they might kill you and you're friends." She looked down at the ground "I'm so sorry Umbreon."

Despite the events that had happened in the last minute or two I still caught a glimpse of the girl that I met in the forest . I gave a smile "Don't worry, I'm sure we can handle it."

Soon after that I felt a small pinch on my neck. I felt where it hit and felt something, something solid. I pulled it out and saw that it was a dart. Before I could even say anything I felt all my muscles give up on me and I collapsed. I suddenly felt sleepy and within a second of falling over I blacked out, completely unconscious

* * *

I stood there in fear as I saw Night fall over, his body completely limp... oh wait, sorry. I didn't introduce myself, I'm sure if this was in Night's point of view he wouldn't be telling you about himself falling in third person. The thing is, I'm not Night. I'm Razor, you know, the Bulbasaur. You'll need more than the two narrators to tell this story, and I've been waiting a while to do my part.

Anyway, to get back to the tale, Night was down. Within moments of him hitting the ground there was the sound of objects whizzing past my head. I saw this leafeon crouch and three or four needles were where her head used to be.

"Oh my god!" screamed your's truly when I realized what was going on. We were being attacked and I had no idea how to defend myself. It seemed that Jolt and Spark had the same idea I had because we all backed up so we all had our backs to each other.

"You see anything Spark?" questioned Jolt in a stern voice.

The pikachu shook his head "Nah, how about you Razor?"

I gulped "Nothing."

Almost on que literally from the sky dropped a Zangoose and a Weavile, each with their razor sharp claws at the ready. Ferne walked in between me and these two new enemies and said "You two stay back." she raised a paw and a blade came out of a mechanism on her wrist "I can handle them.

The Weavile gave a toothy grin "I doubt it leafeon, you're going to die here!" and with that both her and the Zangoose charged.

Ferne moved like she knew where the two Pokemon were going to attack. The Weavile swiped at the leafeon's head with ferocious speed but Ferne ducked under it like it was nothing. Ferne was about to attack the Weavile, but the Zangoose was right there and thrust his claws at Ferne. She had to stagger back to avoid losing some organs. Ferne stood back up just in time to jump over a swipe at her feet by the Zangoose and on her way down she landed on the Zangoose's claws.

With a defiant yell Ferne stabbed the Zangoose's arm and kicked him in the face. With a thud the Zangoose fell, slightly unconscious.

"Give up!" said Ferne to the Weavile "Take your friend and leave while you still can."

"I doubt that's going to happen..."

A figure dropped from the sky and landed behind Ferne with stealthy speed. This figure stood up and revealed herself as a Pikachu, one with a skin-tight outfit on and two deadly looking daggers, one on each of her hips.

"Sorry about this Jane, nothing personal." said the Pikachu. With one motion the Pikachu unsheathed a blade and jabbed it into Ferne's side.

I felt my blood run cold as the leafeon gave a pain filled grunt and fell to the ground, writhing in agony.

This Pikachu knelt down to Ferne and placed the blade at her neck "Don't worry, your brothers will be joining you soon.

Suddenly the Weavile gave a cut off grunt. I looked at her and saw in terror as she collapsed , a needle in her head.

"Oh crap! Is she dead!" yelled Spark as he backed away "What the hell is going on here?" I couldn't of spoken truer words, I had no idea what was happening. The Pikachu stood up and looked me straight in the face, her eyes caused a feeling of fear within me that almost made me faint. However, that fear was nothing compared to the fear I felt after she spoke.

She gave a twisted smile and said "I'll kill you first when I'm done." She looked around and yelled out "Come on out Black, I know it's you."

I heard footsteps and turned to see a a shadowy figure. He stepped up out of a side alley to reveal himself. There stood a Vulpix, but not just any Vulpix. This one was black, his hair spiked up into several points. He wore a dark red vest over a black long sleeved shirt with a flared collar. Where his shirt ended his pants began, which were also black (Wonder why he's called Black)

Ferne cringed and coughed as she leaned herself on a wall "Black..."

The Vulpix raised a paw to stop her "Don't waste your energy," he switch his gace to Jolt, Spark and I "You three stay back" he peered at the Pikachu "I have a little problem to deal with. "

The Pikachu with the jump suit on unsheathed her second dagger and gave a twisted smile "Fine then, Black..." she got into a fighting pose "En Garde!"

* * *

Woo! I am so pumped about this, I love Cerulean city and what I have planned here. If you thought that Dexter was a problem, then keep reading. Things go from bad to absolutely horrible.


	37. Cerulean City: The Alleyway Brawl

Quelle heure e'til? (French for what time is it) It's time for another chapter. Like the last this one is a good bit violent but still teen rated. This should be the last very violent chapter in a some time so there we go.

Same question as before guys

Violet

or Ferne

This will be one of the last chapter for this question to get voting guys and enjoy the chapter.

* * *

I had no idea what was going on as fear and uncertainty gripped my body. Never before in my life have I felt anything that ever came close to the feeling for pure terror that I felt at the moment that I realized what had just happened. It had taken me a while but now I knew that I was in a life and death situation. That at any moment I could be killed by one of these assassin characters. Even Spark and Jolt looked afraid and stepped back as this Vulpix stepped into the light.

The Pikachu with the daggers smiled "I'll take the first move, if you don't mind Black" she gripped the daggers and charged this Black character with serious speed. The Pikachu swiped with the daggers at the Vulpix's head but he effortlessly bobbed and weaved through the series of deadly fast attacks. He then flexed one of his wrists and clashed with the Pikachu's daggers. A hidden blade seemed to be coming out of his wrist, just like Ferne.

The Vulpix spoke up " You've gotten better Clare," he pushed her back "But not god enough."

The Pikachu, apparently named Clare sneered "You've always been an arrogant one Black, one day it's gonna KILL YOU!" Clare charge up electricity in her arm and shot it at Black.

Without warning the stream of electricity veered to the side and completely missed the Vulpix. I turned to my side to see that Spark had seemed to redirect the electricity to the floor, dispersing it throughout the ground.

"I'm done standing here and watching other Pokemon fight..." said Spark with a strong voice. He turned to Black "I don't know who are you are or why you're here, but I know this Pikachu isn't with us. As far as I'm concerned the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so I'm helping you." Without even looking at Jolt and I he said "You two with me?

Jolt gave a smile "Do you even have to ask me?"

I put a look of determination on my face. Even though fear still coursed through my body I felt strength in numbers and nodded "Of course."

Clare put a devilish grin on her face and walked over to the unconscious Zangoose and took a look at him. After a second or two of looking she swiftly jabbed one dagger straight through his chest. There was a quiet gag and the Zangoose lay motionless. Still smiling the Pikachu said "Oh, you idiots wanna die? That's so... " she licked some blood off the dagger "Delicious."

Black frowned, disappointment in his face "You're terrible, you just killed one of your own men. The Clare I knew would never do that."

Clare shrugged "So what, people change. He was weak, so he was no use to me." she turned and looked at me "Remember when I said I would deal with Black first before killing you?"

I gritted my teeth but stayed quiet.

"I lied."

With amazing speed the Pikachu in the skin-suit quickly grabbed a smaller knife from her waist and launched it at me. I cannot stress how close that throwing knife came to hitting me. I saw it fly past my face and barley hit the side of my head. I staggered the the side and clutched my head to feel a small stream of blood.

Jolt looked back at me with worry "Razor, you alright mate?"

Breathing hard I gulped "Yeah I think so..."

Without warning Clare charged Spark with a look of anger on her face. Just before she got to him she stopped , ducked, and spun around with both daggers in her paws. Spark quickly withdrew back and ducked under another swipe. Clare then took the handle of one dagger and jabbed it on Spark's head. The Pikachu staggered back very dazed.

That was when I stepped in. Seeing that Spark was in trouble I outstretched my vines and grasped both Clare's arms. The Pikachu looked at me with anger, then with a smile. I saw her cheeks spark and instantly felt myself unable to move. My vines retracted themselves into my bulb and I struggled to unlock my muscles. I had been hit by a thunder-wave.

Jolt stepped up in front of me "Let me take a shot." he gave a smirk and let loose a pin missile. The barrage of pins went so fast Clare couldn't even move before the attack hit her. She staggered back and snarled. Several pins had embedded themselves into her body, and she didn't look all to pleased .

Then suddenly Black was behind her with a blade to her neck. He forced her to kneel back and said "Drop your weapons Clare, I don't want to hurt you."

Clare sighed in anger and dropped her daggers "Fine..." she put a smile on her face "You won."

Black sighed in relief "Good now just come with me and..." was all the clothed Vulpix had time to say before Clare slammed her head into his head. Black fell to the ground with a grunt and a banged up nose. "Wait!"

Clare smiled as she unclipped a small black ball on her waist and said "I'm so glad we had this time together, but it's time I made my leave Black. Have yourself a good day." And with that she threw the ball to the ground and a ball of smoke spread out throughout the alleyway . I closed my and coughed when the smokescreen entered my lungs. After a few seconds the smoke was gone and so was Clare.

I was starting to get over the thunder wave and was getting mobility back in my body and Spark stood back up. Jolt was looking around for the escaped Pikachu, but seemed to be searching in vain. By that time she was long gone and left us with our injuries.

"Ferne..." sounded Black's voice as he ran over to the wounded Leafeon (That I had **_completely _**forgotten about) She didn't look too good either. Having been stabbed by Clare before in the back she was losing a good amount of blood. This whole time she had been leaning on a wall struggling to keep alert. But after a few minutes of losing blood she was losing consciousness .

Ferne looked up at Black and coughed "Where... where's Clare?"

Black gave a minuscule smirk "She's gone for now. But right now I need to get you to a Pokemon Center."

Ferne suddenly reached out and grabbed the black Vulpix's collar and pulled him in "Do not bring me to a Pokemon Center, I can't go there. Not in this city."

Black frowned "Why not? You're hurt bad and-"

Ferne only responded with three words that I didn't understand "Because of Galactic..."

Black nodded as if he understood and said "Fine, I'll bring you where I'm staying..." he looked at me and my group "You come too. Now that you're involved I need to get you to a safe place until this cools down." he looked over to the bodies of the Weavile and Zangoose "The last thing we need is police coming after us."

I looked at the motionless duo and felt the need to vomit. I hadn't really thought about it, but they were dead. They would never think or talk and move again. All they could to was lay there and rot, waiting for someone to find them. Despite the fact that they had tried to kill us I felt sympathy towards them, I didn't think they deserved to die... at least not like that.

I saw Black help Ferne back on her feet and turn to us "You should pick your friend up off the ground" he said gesturing to Nights unconscious form "I doubt he would like to wake up around two corpses."

Jolt smirked and said "Yeah, but I would like to see how he'd react."

Spark sighed and hoisted up the Umbreon and motioned me over 'Hey Razor, give me a hand will ya?"

I pouted and walked over "So much for a fun day..." As I walked over to him I thought about what Night said he wanted that day, cause shenanigans . And if he we were doing anything we were causing trouble.

And I'm sure Night would be pleased.

* * *

I would be thankful for any review to please give me some input. Plus if you don't I don't think Clare would be too happy.


	38. Cerulean City: Ruby's Malice

Under most circumstances I don't do this,but I made a mistake that I need to correct. So it turns out I made a mistake in the last poll, I had it start WAAAAAYYY to early and I had the wrong people. Due to a slight change in the story I have to not count that last poll, so sorry for all those who voted for Ferne. But , now you guys get to use those votes for this poll. Also I will post it on my profile, so you can vote there.

Now,

Ferne...

or

Dawn (You you will see this chapter)

Decide, or don't. (Btw, this will effect something HUGE in the story so don't hesitate to vote.)

* * *

"What do you think Night and the boys are doing right now?" asked Vapor with a tone of worry in her voice. I sighed as I hid my seething temper. Ever since her, Dexter and I left the Pokemon center all that girl could talk about was 'Is Night okay?' or 'What do you think they're doing?'. This girl had some serious detachment issues that she really needs to work out.

Well, it seems that my time has finally come to tell part of this tale. Just in case you couldn't figure it out this is Ruby talking. I don't have to explain myself to you, I'm sure Night has already given me a good amount of attention. I'm not going to lie, most of the things he's said about me were very true. From the moment I saw him I wanted to bash his smug little face in. Next time I get the chance I'll be sure t- ... wait, I'm getting off topic.

"Vapor, you need to learn to have some fun. Night and the boys are fine." I smiled and looked around "Now try to enjoy yourself." We had managed to get in to some exclusive Pokemon club in the middle of the city. Aparently it was owned by some Resistance team or something like that, I really couldn't care less. But what I could care about was having some fun for once and get to know Dex and Vapor.

"You know, this place isn't half bad." spoke Dexter with a smile "I'm actually relaxed."

I suddenly remembered something I wanted to do. I turned to Dexter and said "Hey, I never got the chance to ask you what you did to Night to make him hate you."

Dexter turned to me and raised his ears with interest and put a smug smile on his face and said "Hmm, I thought you'd never ask." The Espeon licked his paw and ran it through his hair "Well, if I remember correctly I managed to get into Night's brain when his guard was down and he was on the floor. Then I sneaked my way into his sub-conscience and as I defense mechanism his body forced his mind into his own self-conscience."

I was already confused.

Dexter seemed to notice my look of confusion and smirked "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone into that much detail. In a nutshell I got into Night's brain. After that I introduced two test to see if I could break him..." he paused as if to have a moment of self reflection "In hindsight I see that that was quite malicious but I had nothing better to do."

"That's pretty cruel..." added in Vapor "Why would you do that to someone?"

Dexter sighed "I don't really know... perhaps it's my want to know everything in the world. Or perhaps it's because of what I've done in my life, or haven't done..."

I questioned him on that last statement "What do you mean by that?"

I saw him physically tense up at that and said "Nothing, I was just losing my concentration... but anyway I tried to make Night lose his mind. No wonder he kicked my ass afterwards, I would have done the same thing in that situation." He looked at me again "Now may I ask you something Ms. Ruby?"

I was slightly taken aback by him calling me Ms. but I guess the least I could do was return the favor for him answering my question "Sure, what do you wanna know?"

The Espeon looked me dead in the eyes with his blue gaze and said in a completely serious tone "Why are you so ashamed of your fur?"

The moment Dexter asked that question my blood ran ice cold. How could he have known about that? Who would have told him? I tried my best to keep my emotions held in, we were in a public place after all. I took in a deep breath and replied "It's a long story that I prefer not to tell."

Dexter then stared at my face as if to study it. He didn't ask the question to get an answer, he asked to that he could register my reaction. Smart bastard. He then gave me a look of understanding"Very well, I shall delve no deeper into the subject of your disgrace. I'm sorry if I caused you distress." he apologized.

I gave him a half-assed smile "Thanks." But Dexter asking about my fur was nothing compared to what was going to happen next. Being in a bar somewhere in the middle of Ceruleon city is the last place you would expect to see someone you recognized. I was just looking around the room, I don't know why... but I was. As I peered around the room I caught a glimpse of someone I thought I knew, but passed over. Then with sudden realization I did a double take back. What I saw caused me to cut off by breath.

It was her... the one person I truly hated more than anything else in the world.

It was Purrloin, a cat pokemon that almost never left that new region. She sat on a bar stood with a gloomy look on her face. She casually sipped her drink and licked her paw, god I hate her. She then looked up and caught eyes with me. Her lifeless greenish eyes suddenly lit up with a mix of fear on surprise. She quickly dropped her drink, slapped some cash on the table and bolted to the doorway.

I smirked, I had waited so long to get that bitch back for what she did. And now I had the chance.

"Come on!" was all I had time to yell as I followed the Purrloin out the club and into the alleyways. I followed my target with extreme focus, not even caring in Dexter and Vapor were following. They were nice and everything, but this was bigger than them. This was personal.

The Purrloin looked back in fear to see me following her. She had always been like this... a coward, trying to slime her way through life and taking advantage with others. God-Damn I hated her so much. But I was going to to get my revenge now, there was no escape for her.

"Ruby! What are you doing!" yelled out Vapor from behind me. Good to know they were following me, just in case I needed backup.

Then I got lucky, she made a mistake. She took a wrong turn or something because I followed her around it and found she had hit a dead end. I smirked, it was over.

The Purrloin stopped and looked at the wall. I saw her shoulders relax and heard her sigh, she knew she was cornered. Without even turning to look me in the eye I heard her say "Good to see you again Ruby... how long has it been?"

I sneered at her and replied " About 2 years give or take."

The Purrloin turned around and revealed herself to me. She looked like a normal Purrloin with purple and beige fur with deep green eyes and a curved tail. Over her shoulder was a black satchel bag with various items in it. "I assume you're still mad at me about what happened."

I heard Dexter and Vapor catch up with me as I said "Of course Dawn, you can't just sell out to some criminals and expect people to forget!" My tone got angry as I remembered everything that happened.

"Ruby... who is this?" asked Vapor with a slightly scared voice.

I put on a deep frown "An old friend."

I know all you humans are dying to know who Dawn is, how I know her and what she did. Unfortunately I'm not as open as Night and not as willing to give out everyone's secrets. If you want to know about what Dawn did... you'll just have to ask her lying ass.

The feline sighed "Look Ruby, I never got the chance to say sorry." When she said that her tone got sincere "I did what I did to help my mother... she was sick and needed money for the operation-"

"But that doesn't justify what you did!" I yelled back at her as I approached her "You ruined dozens of Pokemon's lives!" My anger took control as I gapped onto her chest fur and forced her against a wall "And I cannot forgive you for that."

The fear in the Purrloin's eyes was nothing I had ever seen before and if I had been in the right state of mind I may have felt sympathy towards Dawn, but in the heat of the moment I felt nothing but pure anger. She shuffled and tried to get away but her attempts were useless, she was always pathetic and weak. I tightened my paw and slugged the miserable creature across the face. She cried in pain but I continued. Plow after blow I pummeled to cat without mercy. Dawn continued to scream but I fogged it out... I was getting my revenge and that was all that mattered to me. Not only was I getting redemption for myself, but I was also getting some payback for the dozen or so Pokemon that had their lives ruined by this Purrloin. I lost count how many times I hit her, but after a second or two I felt a presence hold my fist back.

I turned around and saw that my fist was trapped in place by a purple force.

"Stop." spoke Dexter with a stern voice. He wore a look of deep disappointment and pity. "Whatever this Pokemon has done to you this is no way to deal with it..." he paused for a moment "Besides, she is unconscious."

I looked back at Dawn and saw that Dex was right. The Purrloin lay with her eyes closed and completely motionless besides the occasional rising and falling of her chest. Her face was battered and bruised with cuts on blood smeared on it.

"Fine..." I said "We should get going."

"You're just going to leave her?" shouted Vapor in a very worried voice. "You can't do that."

I turned back at Dawn's form "Of course I can, she got what she deserved." As I looked at her one last time I saw that I felt no remorse at all, and in fact I felt better. Not that Dawn deserved any mercy.

The evil bitch got what was coming.


	39. Cerulean City: In a Name

I have another chapter for you here. Not much to say here so might as well get right to it.

Same question as last time

Dawn

or Ferne, and as I said before this will effect something huge in the storyline.

* * *

"Hurry up you three, I can't take the chance of more Pokemon coming after us." spoke Black as he supported Ferne. It had been 10 minutes after we... well... Black had taken care of that insane Pikachu and her lackeys. The black Vulpix was about 10 steps in front of Spark, Jolt and I.

"Calm down buddy, we're going as fast as possible." I replied in a slightly annoyed voice. In case you want to know the reason Spark, Jolt and I were lagging back so much was because we were delegated to job to carry Night's unconscious form. Believe it or not, Night wasn't light... not at all. Even with all of us chipping in (although I swear I was doing most of the work) it was still a struggle keeping the knocked out Umbreon off the ground.

As the silence returned to the alley my thoughts drifted back to that Pikachu. She was obviously crazy deadly and dangerous and the fact that she told me right to my face that she was going to kill me was still fresh in my head. I placed a paw on the side of my head where her throwing knife nicked me. If that knife was only an inch or two over... I would have been-

"Razor, you okay mate? asked Jolt "You got a worried look about you."

I shook my head and forced a smile "Yeah... yeah I'm fine, thanks." Jolt really was a nice guy, really seemed to care about other people. Even the fact that he noticed I was thinking bad thoughts... I was impressed by that sign of friendship.

I say Spark smirk out of the corner of my eye "Well that's good," he adjusted Night over his shoulder "Night isn't getting any lighter."

"And it seems you aren't going any faster." spoke up Black from ahead "I need you to pick up the pace."

I sighed with frustuation "We're going as fast as possible, just calm down."

Apparently Black had been having a terrible day or perhaps he was just like that , I would have no way of knowing. But what I did know was that the black Vulpix snapped. He stopped, but still looked ahead. Ferne seemed to look worried as she said "Black... don't do-"

"Ferne are you okay to stand?" interrupted Black, still keeping his back to us.

"I think so but don't-"

Black carefully unwrapped Ferne's arm from around the shoulder and let her stand on her feet. With a turn of his head he said "This will only take a moment."

With dexterous movement Black quickly spun around to look at us. His piercing brownish eyes were glaring right at me... apparently he somehow knew that it was me who was talking. As he stepped towards me I felt a slight tinge of fear, but did my best to hide it.

He walked right up to me and stopped with his mussel about an inch from mine. In a calm tone he said "You can't possibly move faster?"

I quickly responded "No."

Black took his sight off of me and brought it to Night. He looked over the Umbreon, checked his pulse and breathing etc. The way that he examined Night seemed very professional. He obviously wasn't a doctor but even without the use of tools he managed to get a complete scan of Night's basic health. He even stated that Night looked like he blacked out a lot (which he does). Black then looked at Spark, Jolt and I and said "He should be okay to wake up now."

* * *

I'm fairly sure that none of you truly know how it feels to suddenly awakened by a sharp jab to the face, and I sincerely hope that none of you ever have to experience anything as terribly annoying as being literally knocked into consciousness. It seems that during my duration of unconsciousness Razor and Ruby did a great job of filling you in on just what went down while I was out of commission. However, now I'm back and your lovable narrator Night is in business.

Now, back to what I was saying... I was suddenly awakened by a sharp smack in the face. Seeing that I was surprised and had no idea what was going on at that point I reacted in fear first. The instant that I found the abillity to scream in terror I did. And holy mother of Moltres was it loud. But after seeing my surroundings I quickly cut it short.

The first thing I noticed was that black Vulpix looking at me from head to toe, almost as if he was fascinated.

I gave a small smirk and said "What... you flirting with me or something? I know I look good but there's a time and place for everything."

The Vulpix, Black was his name I think, didn't look the least bit pleased in my statement. Contradictorily to his expression Black responded with "It's good to see you're up, we're only a few minutes from my safe-house." He looked back at Ferne "You sure you're okay to walk Jane?"

Out of that entire sentence the only word I heard was 'Jane' and since I was sure he was referring to Ferne I quickly questioned it "Jane... don't you mean Ferne?"

The leafeon looked at me with a worried look on her face and turned back to Black "I think we need to get moving now... I don't feel safe in these alleyways."

Black looked at Ferne for a second and then turned back to me. While his vison was focused on me he asked "You told them your name was Ferne?"

"_I think we need to move._" said Ferne for a second time with a more defined tone.

Black sighed "Fine," he looked back at me "since you no longer hold that barren of having hold your friend hopefully things will move a bit faster."

"Wait... Ferne, that isn't your real name?" I asked with confusion. Why would she lie to me about her name, it's not like her name is all that important. But the more I thought about it the more my worries grew. From what I had seen so far Ferne ha herself a very dangerous life. In the last hour or so I've almost been killed more than once and have seen Ferne do things that I never could imagine her doing. She had some secrets, and I sincerely do not like being lied to.

Ferne's expression deepened and I saw a slight bit of anger in her face " We can talk about this later."

Now I was angry "Why not, I don't enjoy being lied to!"

"We can talk about this later Umbreon, okay!" yelled back Ferne with a slight growl behind her voice "Let's get somewhere safe first."

I gritted my teeth and responded "Fine... "


	40. Cerulean City: Night's Dawn

Each time I do a poll the results are always cool to look at. It seems that Ferne managed to edge out Dawn in the poll... which is not too surprising for me. I purposely gave Ferne more exposure because I actually wanted people to vote for her. Not that I like her more, just I've done a good amount of chapters with Ferne and only one with Dawn. Anyway, this is the last chapter in the basic ' Cerulean City' arch. However, things are about to get much worse for Night and another character.

One more thing, right now I don't have a need for a poll deciding the fate of this story or a character. So what I shall do is I shall take two characters and ask a question. Answer these truthfully please, I really want to know what you think on these subjects so I can portray my characters correctly.

So... first one

Who is a more likable character

Spark,

or

Razor. I'll also have this as a poll on my user-page so you can vote both in a review or on the poll on my page. Thank you for trudging through this fairly long Author's note and your prize is **The Dark Chronicle's 40th chapter!** (yay) Enjoy.

* * *

I was dreaming... I just knew this was a dream. Just moments before I was being pummeled by Ruby and I knew that that was reality. I don't know what I expected her to do, she's always been a violent person. I put a paw to my face and wasn't surprised when I felt no bruises, it just strengthened my theory that I was in a dream. I didn't panic at all despite my ominous surroundings of purplish darkness. As a dark type I found it almost pleasing.

I'm sorry... you must think I'm Night, I apologize for misleading you on that. I'm Dawn, the Purrloin that Ruby almost killed... that's me. I'm sure she did a bang up job of describing me, an average looking Purrloin with a beige satchel bag. Okay, back to what I was saying. I was having a dream, but so far nothing had really happened. I was just sitting there waiting for whatever my subconscious decides to throw at me.

As I grew impatient I started to get bored of just looking around. Out of pure annoyance I shouted out "Come on! What's taking you so long?"

"...You shouldn't yell at your mother like that."

A cold chill ran through me as I heard those words coming from behind me. I gulped and blinked hard as I turned around to see the source of the voice. I gave a weak smile and said "Hello mother..."

I knew she wasn't really there, but the image of my mother stood a few feet from me with a smile on her face "How is my daughter? You haven't visited me." There was a tone of intense disappointed and resentment in her voice as she spoke.

I looked down and replied "I'm sorry mother, I've just been so busy and..."

"Busy drinking away all your stress, busy spending your whole day wandering the streets feeling sorry for yourself?" said my mother "Do you get some kind of sick thrill out of being jealous of Pokemon that are happier than you?"

"No, no it's just I'm-"

"A coward that lives in the past." finished my mom with a destructive tone.

Now completely unable to even respond anymore and simply kept my head now and sat in my self-pity. She was right, I was a loser... I was nothing. I would have been better of if Ruby had simply finished to job and killed me.

"Oh now you're considering suicide Purrloin." spoke a deep voice.

Along with the sadness I was already feeling fear started to grip my heart as well. I tightly closed my eyes and tried my best to wake up, I couldn't take this nightmare anymore.

Suddenly a force made me open my eyes and look up. I tried to scream, I tried to run but that some force didn't allow me to. Looking down on me with viscously blue eyes was the legendary Pokemon Darkrai. It's emotionless face wore no pity in me. I knew it was a dream... but Darkrai's specialty was nightmares, it might have actually been him.

"I'll tell you this cat..." said Darkrai in the same dark tone " If you do try to kill yourself I won't let you die."

"What..." was all I had time to say before the dream ended suddenly.

* * *

As I slowly regained consciousness I began to realize how much Ruby had hurt me. At first I was so fatigued that I couldn't stand to open my eyes. But after a moment or two I managed to open my eyes and look around. As I looked around I found that I had simply gone from one nightmare to another, only thing was... this one was real.

A very familiar Absol stood over me, his red eyes glaring at me with pleasure. He wore a Team Galactic emblem on his wrists I was sure that he recognized me, and what he was say next would verify my thoughts.

"Dawn...this is the last place I would expect to find a Purrloin like you." said the Absol " I would think you would still be in Pallet town."

I coughed loudly and cringed as I felt my sore bones rub against my muscles.

"You know this Purrloin Lucifer?" asked a female voice nearby. I turned my head to see a Marowak with a Team Galactic Helmet replacing the standard bone helmet. She also had a special emblem on her chest that I couldn't make out.

Lucifer, the Absol, snapped to attention "Ma'am, she is the Purrloin that brought you and your squad mates to Galactic."

The Marowak gave a small smile and twirled her bone staff and said "So, you're the one that got me into Team Galactic... I should give you some pity, you did make my life better." Her smile vanished as she finished her statement "Regrettably I can't have someone that knows Team Galactic is in Kanto going around telling people."

I quickly defended myself "I swear I won't tell anyone..."

"I can vouch for her Ma'am, she won't tell any-" started Lucifer.

"Sorry, but we can't risk anything." interrupted the Marowak. She turned to me "I truly am sorry for this, but we need to take you in."

I looked at her in pure fear "You're taking me in...where?"

Lucifer looked at me with a worried look on him face and sighed as he shook his head in pity. With his head pointed at the ground he said in a sad tone "The Asylum."

* * *

I couldn't believe Ferne lied to me and over something that seemed so trivial. It's not the fact that I might not know her real name , it's the fact that she didn't trust me enough not to lie. I was glad that she did her best to defend me and my friends before, but it was hard to feel thankful when you are being lied to.

I know... I know, I'm being a little ridiculous and I shouldn't be giving this small issue this much attention. It's just that it didn't seem like something the Ferne I knew would do... but then again the Ferne I met in the forest may not be the real Ferne. The real 'Jane' may be a lying, murdering monster that goes along fooling Pokemon. I wouldn't know, but I hoped this was just a one time thing.

"Night... you okay buddy?" spoke Spark in a concerned tone. I felt so stupid at that moment, I was spending all that time thinking about Ferne... a Pokemon a barley knew and ignoring the ones who had been with me. I knew Dexter better that Ferne... so why was I spending so much time on Ferne.

I gave a warm smile "Yeah, I'm fine." I looked at the Pikachu "Thanks."

Spark shrugged and replied "No problem, you just looked stressed." He looked around a bit and asked "Hey, Black! When are w-"

I suddenly felt the return of a familiar feeling, a feeling I had felt not long ago. It was almost just like when Dexter froze time before... in fact it was just like that. My heart rate started to increase at an intense speed. As I looked around I noticed that everyone else was not moving as well. This didn't make sense... Umbreons are dark types, why was I being effected by this obviously psychic move?

_"Sorry Umbreon..."_ said a loud voice in my mind _"Your weak defenses are nothing. Perhaps after your kidnapping your leafeon freind here will stop her ridiculous chase."_

_'Oh god...' _I was now scared, this wasn't happening again _' No, no, no... Azelf, it be awesome if you's help me this time!"_

_Time itself seemed to slow down as I saw two figures turn a corner in the alley. No... I'm not giving up, not yet!_

_'Sorry Umbreon,' spoke the unknown psychic as he laughed. As my consciousness began to fade I heard 'Your fate has been decieded..."_

_I fell to the ground, no longer able to support myself and the very last thing I heard before I blacked out was, _

_"You will **die** in the Asylum."_


	41. The Asylum: Pyro

Man, I know two updates in just a few days. I don't know, it's like I have the opposite of writers block. Maybe I'm just pumped for the stuff that's about to go down. Anyway the Spark vs Razor poll it up now so if you don't want to vote in a review vote there. However just telling you, if you review your vote counts twice, an by review I mean actually talking about the story and not just saying who you like more. Not that I don't appreciate the people who do that, I just want to give the people to think about the story something extra.

Same as last time who do you think is a more likable character Spark or Razor.

This story's been going on for almost a year now, getting pretty long. I didn't think I would enjoy doing this so much so I wanted to thank all the people who have reviewed and read. Without you this story would have much less life.

Now without any delay Chapter 41 of The Dark Chronicles

* * *

"Hey...Umbreon, you okay?" said a soft female voice as I felt something nudge me awake. I gave a loud wheezing cough and slowly opened my eyes. At first I saw nothing but one singular light bulb hanging from a thin line. It was just hanging there, like it could fall any moment. As my vision began sharpen I saw that there was a set of bars between me and said light bulb. Coughing again I realized I was laying on a hard metal surface, a cold metal surface.

The same female voice from before spoke again with "Good, you're up..."

This time I was more alert and turned my head to the source of the voice. It was hard to tell due to the poor lighting, but I was looking at a Purrloin. As my eyes adjusted more to the light I saw she had several bruises on her face with dried blood around her mouth. Her green eyes were dull and lifeless, but she still managed to put a slight smile on her face. I blinked and said "Yeah, I guess I am..." I looked around a bit more and asked "Who are you?"

She sighed and replied "Dawn, and you?"

I mustered all the strength and stood up. Stretching I responded "I go by the ever so crappy name of Night."

Dawn gave a quick laugh "I don't think it's crappy, it fits you."

Yawning loudly I said "Well thank you, it's good to get a-

"Would you two shut-up!" exploded a nearby gruff voice. I jumped with surprise as I saw Dawn lower herself in what looked like fear. I turned to the source of the voice and saw a couple of somewhat familiar beady eyes. Ignoring that I frowned and said "What's your problem buddy, a little cranky?"

I saw the pair of eyes widen as I stepped more into the light. I saw a pair of long teeth come out of it's mouth as I heard I say with intense anger "It's you! You're that Umbreon!" The patter of feet was heard as the figure aproached me with terrifying speed. I possioned myself for a fight but as he got closer it was stopped by what I saw was another pair of iron bars. It peaked it's head out into the light and I saw who this Pokemon was.

I smirked "Well, haven't seen you for a while Raticate... how did you get here from the Viridian forest?" Remember way back when it was just me, Spark and Jack and we were going through the Viridian forest. Remember when we were attacked by those Rattata? Yep, apparently that Raticate was in Cerulean.

The large rat growled and clawed at the bars and yelled "If these cages weren't separating us you'd already be dead!"

I froze for a moment... did he say cages? I franticly looked around the area I was in, but only saw bars near the light. I rushed over to them and put my paws against them. I followed to metal bars for a second or two before hitting another set of bars on my side. Now very frantic I followed this set of bars to another, then another, then another. I then realized something horrifying.

I was in a cage.

"Leave him alone Raticate!" yelled yet another voice from the corner of Dawn and I's cage. Out from the darkness emerged a Houndour, it's reddish brown eyes glaring at us. The canine got between me and the rat. He looked straight at the Raticate and spoke "Calm yourself down, they don't like it when the Pokemon fight with each other."

The ugly rat glared at me one last time and turned him back, receding back into the darkness.

"You really should't be so stupid..." said the Houndour as he turned and looked at me. He walked past me and stared at the light "If you start fight's they'l just kill you, Team Galactic hates trouble makers."

Still a little shaken up and not in the mood for being corrected I responded "Look buddy, I don't know who you think you are but the day I take advice from you-"

"Is the day you'll die." interrupted the Houndour turning his head. "You really need to not be arrogant in here, it'll get you killed."

Ignoring his statement I only let my anger increase "What makes you so qualified to tell _me _what to do? I've survived this long, I think I can handle myself."

He completely turned himself and looked at me. The look in his eyes was one of seriousness "I've lived here my entire life Umbreon, and if you and the Purrloin want to live I strongly suggest you listen to everything I tell you."

"Wait," spoke up Dawn "You've spent your whole life in this place?" She spoke in a tone of pity.

The Houndour had a flash of anger in his eyes as Dawn asked that question, but it soon resided. He quickly changed to subject "The name's Pyro, I'll do what I can to help you survive here. But you have to listen to me."

I rolled my eyes and said "Whatever." I didn't care what that houndour said, I play by my rules.

"So... are we really in the Asylum?" asked Dawn with a nervous voice.

Pyro sighed again and looked out of our cell. Leaning against the bars he answered "Yes..."

I stepped "Wait a minute. Aren't Asylums for people that are insane? Why is this place called and asylum, as far as I can tell none of us are crazy. All it really looks like is a prison."

Pyro placed a paw on a bar gripped it tightly "You don't know, do you Night?"

I was now interested "Know what?" I looked at Dawn and she was looking down with worry. "What am I missing?"

"It's not a prison Night..." said Dawn "In a prison they're just keeping you out of society because you've done something wrong. Here they take you because of Galacitic's interests... but they don't want to kill you..."

Worry started to seep in as she spoke "What are you talking about Dawn?"

Pyro started to talk "She's saying that in an Asylum they bring in crazy people and try to reform them, but in here..." Pyro turned around and looked at me "Night they don't call it an Asylum beacuse they bring in crazy Pokemon, they call it an Asylum because it you manage to survive ..."

"You come out insane..."


	42. The Asylum: Dexter's Deal

Hey guys, we have a new chapter here. A little break from the Asylum, and this needs to be shown too.

I have a new poll for you since the last one was basically unanimous. This time the question is who do you think is stronger Night or Ruby?

Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

It seems that Night is actually allowing me to tell part of this story, which is very surprising seeing that he has quite a good amount of animosity towards me. I don't blame him though, I did attempt to drive him insane so it's very understandable. Not to mention that he is an Umbreon and me being an Espeon doesn't help out relationship either.

Wait, I'm going off topic. Sorry, that's not like me.

In case my clues didn't give it away, I am Dexter that Espeon. At the moment my group was experiencing a time of intense awkward silence due to what Ruby had just done. From the small amount of time that I have spent with my new 'family' I have seen that they have a series of bad problems. The obvious would be Ruby's violence problem of course, seeing as she almost killed that Purrloin back there. Vapor is a follower, and had pretty low self-esteem. And when you add in my incessant need for knowledge and you have quite the messed up group. But is was my current situation and I was going to make the best of it.

Growing increasingly tired of this moment of silence I started to zone out and think more about what I found while scanning Night's mind. Without a doubt I knew that the Umbreon had an encounter with Azelf, the lake spirit. Why would a legendary from Sinnoh be all the way in Kanto, and what is so important about Night that would bring a Legendary from a very far away region to Kanto? Something must be going on in the legendary world. I had to find a way to have a conversation with them, I had to know what was going on. I could feel the ambition seeping in and I let it. It was enjoyable.

"Hey, wait..." spoke up Vapor, snapping me back into reality. I saw her point at something and say "Aren't they those Team Rocket guys?" Turning to see what she was talking about I found that Vapor was right. Across the street past a few dumpsters stood the two familiar Team Rocket Pokemon. The Pidgeotto , I believe his name was Ace, was perched on the edge of a dumpster looking down at his partner. There was the same Glaceon from before, her name was Crystal I think, had a look of concern on her face as if Ace was telling her bad news.

I had no hostile intention toward the Rockets, they had done nothing wrong to me. However I cannot say the same for my female companions. The instant Ruby saw them she gave a devious smirk and said "I think we should pay them a little visit, I didn't get the chance to pound them last time." She glared at Vapor and I out of the corner of her eye "You guys up for a fight?"

Thinking hard I realized that I truly didn't want to bother the Rockets, they looked like they had their own problems to deal with. But I did want to talk to them, not for any real reason. It was just that whole ambition, need to know everything ego I had going on. However, if they got into a fight with us it would be slightly difficult to gave a conversation. I had to think of something.

I leveled my brows and said "You are quite the violent girl Ruby, but I need the work out so how about I deal with this one alone."

"What?" almost yelled Vapor " You can't beat them by yourself..."she paused for a moment "Wait, can you?"

I shook my head "I doubt it, but I don't intend to beat them. I just want to hold them while you two go back to the Team Resistance club, tell them we cornered two Team Rocket goons and bring them back. All I would have to do is hold them until you guys get back." I looked at them, hoping they would fall for my ploy.

Ruby thought about it for a second and replied "I'm fine with that, I've done my share of fighting today anyway not that I think about it."

Vapor agreed "Yeah, and I already fought them so I'll give you a chance to test yourself Dex."

I put on a fake, but convincing smile and said "Thanks girls, now go" I turned and looked at the Rockets " I can handle this." I waited until the Vaporoeon and the Vulpix turned a corner before I but I plan in effect. Having my plan going fine so far I approached the two Pokemon in the alley.

As I got closer I started to hear what they were saying. The Glaceon looked very worried as I heard her say "You're sure you didn't find them?" She looked mentally strong and a quick brain scan I was confirmed correct.

Ace, the Pidgeotto, sighed "I'm sure, I looked everywhere but nothing." he paused for a moment "You don't think they would-"

"No!" shouted Crystal "They would never just leave us Ace, they care about us. They aren't like the other Rockets, they're special."

The Pidgeotto gave a small smirk "You know what, you're right. They must have just lost track of us after the battle with that Jolteon and Vaporeon." He paused again "By the way, did you see how many eeveelutions those kids had?"

Crystal nodded "Yeah, I'd never seen a Jolteon, Vaporeon, Umbreon and a... that psychic one, what's it called?"

By then I was leaning on a wall in the alley only a few feet from them. Seeing the perfect opportunity I spoke up and said "Espeon... I'm an Espeon thank you."

The two Rockets jumped in surprise and looked in my direction, I sensed a slight bit of fear in them as I did another mental scan. Wanting to calm their nerves and to stop them from attacking I gave a smile and said "Calm down, I'm not here to fight. Just to talk."

Ace stepped down from the perch he was on, the Pidgeotto had a confident air about him as he said " How can we know to trust you?"

Great, they didn't trust me...not that I expected them to. It didn't matter, my plan was going to work. "Okay, that's fine. It's not like you would want to know where to Asylum was anyway." I said with my words dipped in sarcasm.

Crystal stepped up with interest and inquired "You know where the Asylum is?" Her deep, dark blue eyes glared at me as her lustrous fur seemed to reflect light like ice. She was very pretty and seemed fairly intelligent. Not going to lie to you, I was slightly attracted to her.

"I know where one is..."

"Wait, there's more than one?" questioned Ace.

I laughed at the question, just to soften the mood "Team Galactic always has backups."

Ace nodded and raised a brow "But why would you just tell us this info, I suppose you want something in return?"

"Bingo, I want you to tell me what you know about Team Rocket's Alpha Squad." I answered with a smile "Any info would be appreciated." I stopped myself as I heard the sounds of Ruby's and Vapor's voices, they were getting close. I had to speed this up. "Alright, it seems that my buddies are approaching and unfortunately they won't be as friendly as I am. We can continue this conversation tomorrow morning outside the Pokemon Center."

Crystal smiled, apparently liking my deal " How do we know there won't just be police there to arrest us?" She got close to me and grabbed my chest "Because I really don't like being lied to."

Hearing Vapor and Ruby get closer I had to think fast. I grabbed the Glaceon's paw and with all of my power I slammed it into my face. Crystal let go of me in complete surprise and allowed me to fall to the ground.

"What the hell was that?" said Ace as she looked at Crystal "What did he do?"

Still on the ground I said "I need to look hurt so you guys escaping doesn't look staged, now go. I'll see you tomorrow morning." At first they hesitated but after looking in my eyes and seeing the fake compassion I had placed there they seemed to trust me and fled.

Now it was time to act. I quickly got to my feet and yelled out "Come back!" just as Ruby came around the corner. The Vulpix raced up to me and yelled "Where did they go?"

I acted as if I was disappointed in myself and said "They overpowered me... I'm sorry."

Ruby sighed "Oh that's great, I thought you said you could handle this!" For a moment the fox was very angry, but she realized it and calmed herself down. "Sorry for yelling, but how did they escape?"

I coughed "They were strong, I'm sorry Miss Ruby." Ruby seemed to feel good when people called her Miss, so to calm her down more I just used that word. I love intelligence.

"It's fine" she looked deeper into the alley "I'm sure we'll run into them again."

I let a devious smile onto my face "I'm sure we will..."


	43. The Asylum: Quarrels

Exited today guys,I cannot beilive this, as of today The Dark Chronicles is one year old. It's just so amazing the way this has been turning out. 40+ chapters 6000+ views and 70+ reviews, I didn't expect this to happen at all one year ago. I really want to not only thank those who have reviewed but everyone who has read this story. Truly, thank you.

Anywho, enough with the nice stuff. Same question as last time, who do you think is stronger Night or Ruby.

One more thing before I start this chapter, I have myself an account on Deviant art so if you wanna see what some of my characters look like check it out here heckfan . deviantart . com (Without spaces)

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"You gotta be kidding me." was all I could find to say at that moment "This Team Galactic is going to try an make us crazy?"

Pyro sat there in silence after my question in what I hoped was in deep thought. Dawn was simply looking at me with sympathetic eyes. They couldn't have been serious, why would an organization spend time to try and make Pokemon crazy. It just didn't make sense. I had no idea who Team Galactic was and what they wanted but at that moment I couldn't care less. Right then and there I wanted nothing more than to escape that god-damn cage.

I growled as frustration and arrogance started to step in, those Team Galactic punks had the nerve to try and make me crazy. I remembered the psychic who captured me say it was to threaten Ferne, but if they wanted to do that they picked the wrong Umbreon. In my mind at that moment I made the choice that no matter what they did to me I would keep my sanity. After all, I had managed to survive Dexter's little game in one piece... how much harder could this stupid place be.

I saw Dawn's ears perk up suddenly as I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. The Purrloin started to look around with worry "What is that?"

Pyro frowned deeper than he normally did and answered "It's the guards, they're here to take us out of the containment area."

"That's cool, don't answer my questions Houndour." I said in a smart-as tone.

Pyro's eyes showed a very slight flash of anger, but it was gone before the time he replied with "I don't answer stupid questions Night."

God, what a jackass. At that moment I couldn't care less about the 'experience' this dolt Houndour had, to me I really would care wether he died or not. However at that time I was stuck with him and the Purrloin that was afraid of everything. Not the worst group ever, but pretty close.

"Don't appreciate the way you keep talking to me Pyro, it's starting to tick me off." I said taking a step towards the canine.

The houndour smirked and completely turned his body to me "Night, I don't know what you are trying to do with this conversation but I promise you that if you try to fight me you will find yourself in a world of hurt."

I raised my head in defiance and responded with "Oh, is that a threat mister I've spent my whole life here? You don't know me you little bastard and I sujest you start treating me with more respect before I make you."

Dawn noticed the tension in the cage and bravly got in between us. She franticly looked back and forth between us as she yelled "Both of you calm down before this becomes something. We are in here together now and to survive we're going to need to work together." she looked at Pyro "That's means no more condescending attitude."

I stuck my tongue out at Pyro, who promptly widened his eyes in anger. But before I could enjoy the moment for to long Dawn turned to me and said "and that means listening to Pyro, he knows how to survive here." It was then Pyro's turn to feel the surge of victory as a dolt style smile found it's way onto his face.

"Is that agreed?" finished Dawn with one final glare at both of us.

I frowned as I made the choice to make the first move of friendship. Taking a step towars Pyro I said " I hate to say it, but Dawn's right. We're acting imature and childish. If you exept that I have things to conribute I promise to respect you a bit more... I am sorry for how you've had to spend your whole life here, but with my help I'll do my best to get us out of here." I extended a paw and but a small, but true smile on my face "Are we cool?"

Pyro sighed and swiftly shook my paw "Agreed Night."

Suddenly a loud alarm sounded and the mostly dark room started to flash with red lights. Being completely caught off guard with it I found myself in a momentary state of fear that past quickly but left my heart with a rapid heartbeat. Like me Dawn had a sudden burst of fear, but the sudden alarm seemed to have no effect on Pyro. Screams from the other cells filled the room as the alarms and lights continued to flash. Out of the chaos I saw a door open and two figures walk in. The first was a Human in a green and white uniform with a G on it (I assumed he was with Team Galactic) the other was an Alakazam with a G insignia on it's arm.

Despite the large array of sounds the two new figures looked completely calm, almost enjoying themselves as they looked at all the Pokemon going crazy in the cells. They simply looked at all of the cages, one by one, paying attention. They seemed to be checking for something. I wasn't sure what they were looking for and whether or not they would do something bad to you when they chose someone, but I made the decision to act as calm as possible. It looked like Dawn followed Pyro's and I's example as she quieted down and stopped acting crazy.

I saw the Alakazam suddenly stop and look dead at me. It first I thought he was just looking in my direction and would soon look away, however he simply smirk and whispered something to the human. It looked like the psychic could communicate directly in human language.

Within a second of the Alakazam telling the human something the human pressed down on a tile on the wall.

"Night, Dawn whatever you do don't run at all." said Pyro. He seemed to know what was going on, so I actually listened to the houndour for a change. All of a sudden a side of our cage swung open.

The Team Galactic human smirked "Pyro, grab your friends and get going...you of all Pokemon should know the deal by now. "

Pyro nodded " Follow me guys. Do not fight back."

I quietly growled "Why the hell not? I'm a dark type, I could wipe the floor with that Alakazam." I glared at the psychic "Why not fight back?"

I could tell Pyro was nervious, he was physically shaking as he replied with "That psychic can destroy you Night, please don't rebel."

Seeing he was serious I listened to him. Dawn loudly gulped and said "Where are they taking us?"

Pyro growled softly and replied with "With luck, the sane rooms."

"What the heck are sane rooms?" was what I said very loudly. I'm not the type of Pokemon that loves surprises.

I saw the Alakazam grin and cross his arms "Perhaps you should get moving then Umbreon, your curiosity will be satisfied shortly..."


	44. The Asylum: The Psychic

Lol, I feel quite dumb. It seems I put chapter 42 here instead of chapter 44 D:. Thanks to Ishidashadow for pointing that out, that could have been bad.

Alright, new chapter, new question. From what you have seen so far who is stronger Team Rocket or Team Galactic? This question will be on my profile so vote there as well.

We get a little deeper into the Asylum and for those who know important people in Team Galactic you get a nice surprise. Enjoy!

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"Keep yourself calm Night, I don't want to see them kill you" quietly whispered Pyro in my ears "Keep your anger in check."

We had been walking through this 'Asylum' place for a couple of minutes with the Alakazam and the Team Galactic human behind us. I could feel them glaring at me from behind as I struggled to keep myself contained. Not having any control in this situation I wanted nothing more but to just get out. But, I listened to Pyro and I asumed he knew what kind of power these Galactic people were capable of.

Heaving a loud sigh I responded quietly with "I'll try... but no promises."

"Is there something I need to know?"

At the sound of that voice I paused as an icy feeling stuck my chest. I knew that voice, I had heard it recently in fact. After a moment of searching my short term memory I suddenly had a sickly moment of realazation. I was correct, I had heard that voice before. I allowed a deep and true frown onto my face as I turned my head to face the speaker.

The Alakazam had a nonchalant look of arrogance on his face, he thought he was better than me...the smug son of a bitch. He twirled his spoon for a bit then griped it tightly "What?"

What? Did he actually just say what? My anger soared to new heights as I almost yelled "You brought me here didn't you?"

I could feel Dawn and Pyro's eyes looking at me after my sudden outburst. Hell, I even saw the Team Galactic idiot flinch a bit...but the Alakazam barley reacted. All he did was blink and shrug a little. He slowly raised his spoon and placed it near the main ring on my head.

"Do you want me to show you who you are messing with Umbreon, because I'll be glad to prove to you how much out of your league you really are."

Still wanting my answer I yelled out "Did you bring me here!"

He simply smiled "You know I can send a psychic wave straight through your barrier..."

At that comment I scoffed, he was bluffing...no doubt. I should probably explain to you what my 'Barrier" is. You see all dark and ghost types, pure or not, generate this energy that is the essence of their dark type powers. It's the stuff that shadow balls and Night Slashes are made of. Unfortunately for ghost types their dark aura isn't as potent as dark types seeing that most of them aren't really alive( Which is why dark types can destroy ghost types, but they can basically do noting against us)...Now, one of the main side effects of harboring such energy is that it naturally repels psychic waves. This is why psychic attacks cannot effect dark types. Every dark type has a center of dark energy on their body and for an Umbreon that is directly in the center of the ring on its head. The fact that this Alakazam thought he could break through my barrier at it's strongest point was idiotic to say the least.

Now back to the story. Now more that pissed I had taken enough. With arrogance beaming from me I placed my head on the Alakazam's spoon and yelled "Answer my **question**!"

All of a sudden I felt a strong source of power emitting from the Alakazam's spoon, but at first I felt no amount of fear. He was going to try and fail. However as I felt this power get stronger I felt myself go lightheaded, like I was slowly being put to sleep. Just as I was about to close my eyes I felt a rush of imense pain in my head. Screaming in pain and surprise I tried to fight back by forming some kind of dark attack but my attempts were futile. Closing my eyes tight I struggled to combat the pain but nothing happened. Just before I gave up I opened my to see the Alakazam place his free hand on my head and say one word.

"Down"

A force that was stronger than anything I had ever felt in my life (Up to that point) forced my head, nose first, into the cold metal floor. With a painful pang my whole body came down as well followed by an almost debilitating pain. Pain so intense I found myself literally unable to move, only groan in agony. I don't expect you to understand what it truly felt like, but it can be compared to being pile drived into the ground. I started to worry for my life at that point, this psychic had managed to hurt me...with a psychic attack. That wasn't supposed to happen, dark types are not effected by psychic moves. It didn't make sense and as I wondered how he did it I wondered just what I had gotten myself into.

"Night!" exclaimed Dawn from behind me "What did you do to him?"

"Silence... unless you want to end up like your friend." demanded the Alakazam "I can do the same thing to you so I suggest following my orders."

Finally I gathered enough stamina to get to my feet. I pushed my weakened body up off the ground and I looked up. Looking straight at the Alakazam and frowned "Not gonna lie, that really hurt."

The human that was with us crossed his arms "Impressive, the Umbreon managed to take your attack Alexander."

The Alakazam, apparently named Alexander, shrugged "Understandable, I didn't go full force...but enough of this." he pointed his spoon at me "Get going."

With that we continued to walk to our destination in complete silence, no one wanted a repeat of what had just happened. In the silence I got the chance to think about a few things, things that concerned me. Why hadn't Azelf done anything yet, I thought he was watching out for me. If he was why hasn't he just busted in here and get me out? Maybe he really wasn't with me, maybe he was just messing with me. Negative thoughts started to flood my head about the legendary and I hoped more than anything I was wrong. Perhaps Azelf was busy or something.

"Okay, we're here." said Alexander snapping me out of my thoughts. In front of me was a large metal door that had an complicated sequence of locks. I could swear I could hear some sounds coming from behind it. Feint sounds, but something.

The human stepped up to the door and knocked on the door. After a slight delay there was a loud voice over an unseen microphone " New darkies?"

"Of course, why else would I be here?" responded the Team Galactic member with an annoyed tone. He didn't seem to want to be there.

I leaned over to Pyro who seemed to know what was going on and asked "What the heck are 'darkies'?"

"Darkies are dark types, and this is the dark type section of the Asylum." he looked at me "Team Galactic likes to keep all types seperate, it stops revolts and helps them control the population more."

"How?" I inquired.

Dawn stepped in to answer this one "It makes it easier because you just need to have Pokemon that are strong against a type to guard them. For example, correct me if I'm wrong Pyro, but they should have fighting and bug types guarding us right?"

The houndour nodded "Yep, about 12 fighting and 12 bug types with one leader per group."

The large metal door swung open with a grinding screech that filled the hallway. Alexander and the human stepped back and walked away, apparently we weren't their problem anymore. Out of the now open door stepped out three figures, another human, a Lucario and a Venipede. The Lucario had an aged look about him and he carried himself as if he was the only important person in the room. The human was a female Team Galactic member that looked like she was a very high rank. She had a short skirt and a skin tight Galactic uniform on with sharp red hair. Like the Lucario, she looked a bit arrogant. The Venipede, unlike the other two, had a calm look on her face. She was looking right at me, studying me.

The Lucario smirked "Good to see you back Pyro, did you learn your lessen?" his smile disappeared instantly as he said "Or will I have to reteach it?"

Pyro put a deep frown on his face and responded with "I won't cause any more trouble for you." His words were unstable and blunt as if he was forcing himself to say that.

"Calm youself down Steel, you don't always have to be the Alpha-male in the room." spoke the human. She looked down at the Venipede and asked " Is he always like that?"

The bug type sighed "Unfortunately yes Commander Mars." Her voice was as calm as her expression.

The Lucario, Steel, growled at his female counterparts "Whatever," he gazed back at the three of us "Pyro, you know the deal."

"Yes, of course." said Pyro before turning to Dawn and I "Lets get going."

"Where are we going?" asked Dawn.

The houndour sighed "The Dark type common area. It's right past these doors." He stopped for a second and looked at both of us "I'm going to warn you two, this place is hell. Worst than anything you've seen. Pokemon act like they normally wouldn't in there so stay close to me and I'll try my best to watch out for you."

Grinning with confidence I respond with "Pyro, I can handle myself."

"Fine..." said Pyro.

A second locked door was opened and inside was a sight that terrified me. It was a barley light but I could tell it was large. I first thing that hit me was the intense stench, it was horrible. The place reeked with body odor and various other non-pleasant smells. Within seconds of the door opening a few Pokemon turned to look at me and I was shocked. They looked terrible. One that looked very bad was a Sableye that was missing on of its eyes. It glared at me without emotion or movement. It them cracked a grin, showing its dirty poorly kept teeth.

"What happened to these guys?" asked Dawn with intense worry and fear.

Pyro gave a small smile "What happened?" he paused for a moment and started to walk into the room "The Asylum happened."


	45. The Asylum: The Nemesis

I like this chapter a lot. Don't know why... probably because I get to write Dexter again. He's just so awesome to write with. Same question as last time, who is the stronger organisation Team Rocket or Team Galactic?

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Out of everything the feeling of death in that room was the worst. It was consuming and terrifying. You could feel the depression in the room as it appeared that the Pokemon seemed to have given up. The looks in their eyes as I passed by them is something that still haunts me. They just stared on and out into the distance as if they didn't care about life anymore. Pokemon lay helpless on the floor as they sulked in their own misfortune as a red light source cloaked the room in an ominous light. Dawn seemed to be just as horrified about what she was seeing, but Pyro didn't react at all. At first I felt a surge of anger come from me, how could seeing things like this not affect him? But as I thought more I realized that he must have seen thousands of Pokemon go through here. He was used to seeing life in it's worst state as it was the only way he knew life could be lived. He had survived this long, he was about my age from what I could tell so he must have found out some way to live a semi-happy life here. If I could follow him, I may last.

I frowned...but I wasn't Pyro. I couldn't bring myself to conform like Pyro has. Even back when he was talking to the Lucario he forced himself to say he would be obedient, he said he wouldn't be a problem. I couldn't do that, I would have told that arrogant Lucario how I would send his ass packing back to mommy. I needed to find my own way to survive in the Asylum. I didn't want to end up like the poor souls that had lost themselves in this place. I wanted to rise above, no, I needed to rise above. And with Dawn and Pyro by my side I was going to escape the Asylum.

No matter what.

"Stay close to me both of you, don't let your eyes fool you. Some of these Pokemon have lost their will to go on and they have my pity. However, some are just here to cause trouble and you are new. They won't hesitate to attack you so keep sharp." spoke Pyro quietly "Understand?"

Both Dawn and I nodded with slight hesitation, these didn't look like the type of Pokemon to randomly attack. But I assumed that he knew more about this place than I did and stayed close.

As we worked out way through the mass of Dark types I struggled to not look any of them in the eye. I had seen enough pain in one day. I could feel them looking at us as we continued through what seemed like an endless crowd. As we walked I heard various comments about us but I ignored them.

"Hey Pyro... got some fresh meat?" sounded a gruff voice from in front of the Houndour. I peaked in front and saw a tall dark type with sharp blades around its hands, body, and on it's face. It stood arms crossed looking at Pyro with a slight grin.

"Shut up Blade, I really don't want to be bothered by you right now." responed Pyro with a slight growl on his voice " And I wouldn't try anything, but you being a Bisharp I could destroy you."

"Cocky as ever Pyro... I would apologize before I react to that threat." respond the Blade Pokemon with a smirk.

"Blade, I have three Pokemon with me. I don't think even you could take three of us on your own...back off!" yelled back Pyro, heat in his tone. I saw Blade flinch a bit and step back.

He composed himself and sharpened his blades "Fine, I'll leave you be for now Pyro. But you won't be with your buddies forever." And with that be backed off.

After the strange Pokemon had left and approached the Houndour and asked "Who was that guy?"

Pyro snarled "Some Bisharp from Unova that thinks he's all that. I've had to put him in his place every now and then."

"Unova, isn't that really far away?" I asked.

Dawn piped in "Yes it is, but there was a little surge a few years ago of Unova immigrants and there are a few descendants of them walking around." She gave a weak smile "My mother was one of the first."

"Anyway," said Pyro changing the subject " I'm sure you two are hungry by now, hows about we get some food?"

The instant Pyro mentioned food I felt a hunger I had never felt before. I realized I hadn't eaten in at least 6 hours (Even though I had no idea what time of day it was, being no windows in the place) and I felt I was a little weaker. "Theres food here?"

Pyro sighed "Well, it's not what you might call food but it's all I've ever eaten in my life. It's not bad, but its far from great... or at least I hope food on the outside is better than the crap in here." I motioned in a direction "Follow me."

* * *

"Dexter, are you sure you're okay?" asked Vapor in an intensely worried voice as she checked me for injuries. I didn't mind it, she was a good girl and met well. She barley knew me and still insisted in making sure I wasn't hurt. She was a better Pokemon then me for sure and I was glad I had at least one person in this group who liked me.

"I'm fine Vapor, just a little banged up. Nothing a little down time won't help." I said, soothing her worries.

Vapor stepped back and gave a heaving sigh and smiled "Sorry, I just over react sometimes..."

"Yeah you do..." spoke up Ruby from a few feet away "The guys fine, give him some space to breath eh?" She turned back to two Pokemon that she had lead there "Sorry about this guys."

A Buizel, apparently one of the leaders of Team Resistance, raised his paw "It's no issue, you at least tried and now we know Team Rocket has Pokemon agents in Cerulean without their trainers."

The Pokemon next to him, a Zorua spoke up " Plus with the other info that we've been gathering I think I can say that Team Rockets elite squad in is Cerulean city."

This new development was interesting to me so I piped in "Team Rocket has an elite squad? I thought only Galactic did."

The black fox looked at me with amazement " You know that? Information like that is hard to come by, who told you that Galactic has a special forces? Most Pokemon in this region have no idea Team Galactic even exists."

I instantly regreted saying that, it would be weird for a Kanto Pokemon to know so much about a Sinnoh organization. Smiling I tried to play it off "I'm from Sinnoh so I know a little bit about the Galactics."

"You're from Sinnoh Dexter?" inquired Vapor.

God she's easy to lie to, and apparently so was everyone else as they all believed me when I said "Yes, lived there for a couple of years... but back to the subject, you said the Rockets have an elite squad?"

The Buizel, I think his name was Eric, nodded "Yep, two highly trained Pokemon operatives that were trained by the Team Rocket leader himself."

"Rumors say that they're both two undiscovered types of Eevee evolutions, but thats unlikely." finished Zain, the Zorua. He sighed "Well, we gotta get back to our organization...we have other buissness to take care of."

Eric smirked and waved "Thanks for the info guys, and tell Jolt and the others I said hi." and with a polite nod the two left.

Ruby sighed and looked around. She had a look of intense disappointment on her face, she wanted to catch the two Rockets. Somewhere in the depths of my cold heart I felt a smidgen of guilt for her and Vapor. I had lied to them more than once for selfish reasons. It was just who I was. I am an Espeon that is out for number one and if anything got in the way of me getting what I wanted it would just have to be a casualty in my quest for complete knowledge.

"We should go see if we can find those Rockets." said Ruby in a tone of anger "I'm not letting them get away."


	46. The Asylum: Cries of the Innocent

'Ey everybody, sorry for the wait on this chapter. I has busy with my finals, but now with them over I have a bit more time to dedicate to my little tale here. I have a couple of things to say in this authors note, so I'd better get started. First of all next chapter I will post I very. very minute(as in small) hint of the future in this story. But don't think I'll just give it to you or something, you'll have to do a bit of decoding.

Also, I have another poll and this one is a bit more personal. **This will not effect the story, but I would like it if you voted like it did-** If one character had to die out of this list who would you choose:

Spark, Jolt, Ruby, Dawn, or Dexter - this question will also be a poll on my profile

Mwahahahaha! I make you make evil choices...oh and enjoy the chapter.

* * *

"Well, here we are." said Pyro "The Gourmet eatery."

Gourmet eatery isn't exactly what I would call it as gourmet eateries commonly have something along the lines of food, solid food. This thing was far from anything that could be considered sanitary. In the corner of the large, dimly light room was is something that can only be called a very long receptacle of various liquids and semi-solids. Pokemon were crowed around it, loudly forcing the stuff down with what looked like veracious hunger that seemed to dwarf mine.

I cringed from the smell and the look of the thing and said "So, this is it?"

Pyro smirked "Yep, is it disgusting?"

Dawn sniffled and heaved a dry cough and replied "Not to be insulting, but it's a little terrifying." She looked over at Pyro " You've had to eat this stuff your entire life."

The Houndour forced a smile "Yep, it's commonly called 'Sludge' for obvious reasons. It has everything you need to survive and more..."

"How would you know that?" I inquired.

"I'm still alive and in pretty good health, so it can't be bad for you." he looked down at the long metal sludge pen and sighed "But that doesn't mean it tastes good."

I sneered "Excellent..." I looked over at Dawn "Lady's first?"

The Purrloin looked back at me with a look that guaranteed I would be the first to delve into the so called food. In addition, just in case it wasn't clear enough that I would be the first victim of the sludge she said "That's all you Night, I have a weak stomach."

Sighing I responded "Alright... Pyro, you sure this stuff is okay?"

"Of course, unless I have some secret reason to lie about where to get your food..." replied to Houndour in a tone that was drenched in sarcasm. (Usually my thing.)

I approached the long metal object that held the semi-liquid 'food' with iron-willed determination and with my hunger backing me a prepared to dive into what I was sure to be the worst thing ever. With one last huge breath I plunged snout into the muck and gulped down a mouthful of the stuff.

That was the worst way to handle the situation.

The smell of the material was just a fraction of how absolutely disgusting it tasted. There literally are not words that can fully describe how utterly terrible that stuff tasted. The only way that I can possibly imagine a way to describe it would be if ( I would skip this part if you get squeamish) there was a really nasty, stinky, sweaty fat man took a really horrible poop. Then that poop gained life and got really stinky and rolled around in some dirt before throwing up. Said vomit then proceeds to go into a kitchen and makes a meal... This is what I ate.

The self-control that it took for me not to puke right there on the spot is something that I am still very proud of today. But don't think for a second that it was easy to swallow, that was the worst part. It was easy to just put the crap in my mouth but when I had to swallow I was excepting it into my body. With one strong gulp I forced the crap down my throat, I swear I heard a splash.

"Delicious..." was all I could manage to choke out.

Pyro smiled "Perfect..."

All of a sudden there was the loud sound of gears grinding and a metal screech. The sound was almost paralyzing as I struggled to keep my focus through the noise. Dawn kept her head down and forced her ears to rest on her head, hoping to quell the noise. Pyro seemed unaffected by the sound and simply turned his head to the source, the door we had entered through. Pokemon around us seemed to back of, getting as far away from the door as possible.

Through the noise I managed to speak "What's going on?"

Pyro had a deep frown on his face as he replied "I don't know, but it can't be good."

Soon after the screeching stopped and the door was wide open but other Pokemon blocked my view of who was standing in it. The commotion and talking had completely stopped and silence filled the air. For a good ten seconds there was nothing but the occasinal whisper.

"What the hell am I here for?" yelled a Tyranitar in anger. I looked to my side and saw the Pokemon towering over me with its teeth barred.

"We are simply looking for Night, the Umbreon, he recently came here." spoke the voice of the Lucario from before, I think his name was Steel. "I know you're here Umbreon, so come out."

A cold chill ran through my body, why did he need me. Did I do something wrong? I followed by base instinct and just kept quiet. I would be impossible to find me in a crowd of Pokemon like this.

"Why am I here goddamn it!" roared the Tyranitar in pure fury. "Tell me!" The dinosaur like Pokemon took a step forward towards the door. I had no idea how long that Pokemon had been there, but there was no doubt it had hit the breaking point. Tears started to roll down its face as it seemed to struggle to hold in sobs.

"Buddy, you really need to calm down." quietly spoke Pyro "They will-"

"Nothing they're going to do to me cam be any worse than going to hell like this one more day!" interrupted the furious dark type.

All the way across the room I heard the Lucario respond in a cold voice "Oh, you seem to sure about that..." Then what I saw next seemed to defy the imagination. All I saw was movement in front of me and the Lucario seemed to materialize in front of the Tyranitar's face, fist at the ready, and sock the emotional Pokemon across the face. A pain filled roar echoed through the room as the large Pokemon staggered back from the terrible blow.

Steel landed on the ground and outstretch his arm in a taunting fashion "Why don't we test your theory then..."

All at once every bit of anger erupted from the Tyranitar as a battle cry emitted from him. With his anger backing him, the Tyranitar gave a wide swing at Steel. The Lucario easily sidestepped it and kicked the dino pokemon right on the elbow. A sickening crack filled the room as the arm snapped in two with little resistance.

"Your slow, and your movements are sloppy." said the Lucario in a dominant tone as Tyranitar gripped it's arm in agony. "You deserve everything thats about to happen to you."

Steel charged the huge Pokemon and kneed it in the gut, cracking the steel plate that guarded the Pokemon's belly. A cut off yell was the only sound the Pokemon was able to make as he used his one good to clutch his gut and bed forward.

"A low threshold for pain, disappointing." spoke Steel before hi-jump kicking the Tyranitar across the face sending the Tyranitar's head into the cold metal floor with a loud pang.

"And now look at you, knocked out after three hits." sneered the Lucario as he nudged the unconscious Pokemon " How unimpressive..." he then looked up and glared directly at me with his cold eyes. My heart jumped as a sick smirk found its way onto his face.

"Why did you just do that?" spoke up Dawn, a hint of fear in her voice "He just asked a question."

With the same light speed Steel rushed over to Dawn and before I could even blink he had her by her chest fur lifted off the ground. Dawn's terrer simply increased as Steel looked her dead in the eye and said "You don't ever talk to me like that, _scum._"

I looked over to Pyro to see what he was doing. The Houndour was physically shaking from what looked to be anger. He was using self restraint again, something that this Asylum place seemed to instilled in him from a young age. He wanted to do something, he wanted to act in Dawns's defence and he wanted to take on Steel. He wanted to, he just couldn't.

...But I could.

"Steel!"

The Lucario paused for a moment and turned to look at me just as a feint attack from your's truly nailed him and the face. He dropped Dawn to the ground and staggered to regain his balance. When he looked at me there was a dark fury in his eyes, a fury the shock me to the core. Despite this I had made my choice, I was going to fight now. I'd had enough of this place and at that moment I didn't care about what Pyro said.

"How's about you take me on" I gave an arrogant smirk "Or, are you scared?"

I swear I saw a vein bulging from the Lucario's head as he responded back "You must have a death with darky, I won't hesitate in ending you." He exhaled in a calming fashion and cracked his knuckles " I can't wait to spill your worthless blood."

I won't lie, that last comment scared me deeply. Not that I hadn't heard threats before, in fact, I've heard worse. However, never before that moment had I heard someone actually seem serious and willing to carry out the deed. In spite of this I stood my ground in preparation for a strike.

"Shut up Steel, you make Galactic seem barbaric!" shouted a vaguely familiar female voice. Turning my attention to the voice I saw the bug Pokemon from before, a Venipede. She had made her way through the crowd despite the activity and was now standing only a few feet beside me. "You really don't understand how incredibly unnecessary it was to injure that Tyranitar like that!"

Steel growled back at her "I can't just let something like that go unpunished Vernai!"

"He did nothing wrong!" shouted back the Venipede, her voice echoed through the room and silenced the Lucario. The Venipede, name Vernai, walked her way over to the downed Tyranitar that was just regaining consciousness. She examined his arm and shook her head "You ingrate...you broke his arm." she said in a disappointing voice "You need to get a medical officer down here to get him some medical attention, I'm sure you can handle that Alexander."

At the mention of his name the Alakazam appeared out of nowhere and nodded "Of course" He looked up and noticed me and gave a nod of recognition before disappearing again with the Tyranitar. It took me a moment to realize he was using teleport, but that nod gave me the creeps.

"Why the hell are you treating this bastards with care?" yelled out Steel with palpable anger.

"Because I share the belief that we're trying to do some good here. Mars may be closing this place down soon and I want to try and help these Pokemon as much as possible." replied Verni. Her compassion surprised me, up to that point I thought that Team Galactic were a bunch of violent psychos bent of causing pain. Maybe they were, but that Venipede stepped in to help me and that Tyranitar.

Vernai looked at me with her yellowish eyes and gave a small smirk "Commander Mars wants to talk with you," she glanced over to Dawn "Purrloin, you should come as well."

Dawn started to get worried "Did we do something wrong?"

Vernai smiled and shook her head "No, we simply wish to have a talk with you" she motioned to the door "Now come along."

* * *

"Where the hell is Night?" almost shouted Spark, his voice filled with dismay. His breathing was rapid and his actions were frantic as he searched the area for the Umbreon.

I had no idea what had just happened. Last this I remember was just walking in the alleyway going to Black's safe-house. Then there was a moment of just darkness and the next thing I remember I was waking up next to Jolt and Spark with my bulb feeling weird. I didn't blame Spark, I felt just as worried as he was, I was just handling it differently.

"I already told you, we were attacked by a psychic." Black looked up into the midnight sky "Judging from the time we've been knocked out for the whole day. Whoever took your Umbreon friend is long gone." The Vulpix sighed "Sorry about this, I should have done something."

"Stop placing the blame on yourself Black, its not getting us anywhere." spoke in Ferne " Your right, he's been taken and I'd bet money that it was Team Galactic that took him." The leafeon had a look of intense anguish on her face...she thought this was her fault.

"Team Galactic... You mean the organisation is Sinnoh? What would they be doing all the way out here in Kanto? That doesn't make sense" asked Jolt "But then again nothing in the past few days has made much sense."

Black stepped in again "Now that I think about it I'm sure this was a Galactic member, a strong psychic Pokemon. One that was trained and genetically altered by them."

"Genetically altered," added in Spark "Why would they do that to someone."

"For power, Team Rocket's been doing it for years and I've assumed Galactic's been doing the same thing. With this new event I'm sure that this is one of them." spoke Black.

I thought for a moment before jumping in "Then why accuse Team Galactic, they aren't even in the region. If it was an altered Pokemon it would be more likely for it to come from the Rockets."

"Team Rocket doesn't have any need to stun us, if they wanted to attack they would have just attacked. Plus, they've already sent Claire after me and she's one of the Rockets best soilders. It's not their normal teams style to pull an operation like this." said Ferne " Not to mention if it were some special unit why let us go tell the authorities? They would just go on the hunt for a couple of Rockets. It has to be Team Galactic, they want us to got tell the police that someone kidnapped their Pokemon and the police's first instinct would be to accuse Team Rocket. Team Rocket isn't dump and the last thing they want is more heat after them."

"Wait, wait, wait... are you saying that some criminals from a very far away region came all they way to Kanto just to take Night?" asked Spark.

"No, what she's saying is that if our assumption is correct..." he paused for a moment and looked up at the moon "Team Galactic had gotten much stronger than before."


	47. The Asylum: Meeting Mars

So with this new chapter I am going to tell you guys a secret, but don't think it will be easy. As I said last chapter I will be giving a secret, but it is concealed is the authors notes I've been writting. All of the ones from Chapter one to now are fair game, but for those who review (signed reviews) I will give them the gift of another clue.

Some question as last time, who would you choose to die if you had to?

Spark, Jolt, Ruby, Dawn, or Dexter. This is still on my profile too.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Calm down Ruby, it's not a big deal." plead Vapor as she chased after the angry Vulpix "It's a big city and you shouldn't beat yourself up for not being able to find two Rockets."

Having spent almost the entire day trying to track down the two team rocket members it was somewhat understandable that the Vulpix was less than happy. In the day or two I had spent with this new group it was apparent that Ruby had a short temper. From beating that Purrloin half to death in that alleyway to almost losing it when she found out the Rockets had gotten away I was more than sure that Ruby needed anger management classes. Knowing I might be able to use this to my advantage latter I stashed this information away in my mental vault and continued to allow the Vulpix to stomp around Cerulean in anger.

Ruby sighed "You know...you're right Vapor. They'll turn up." she turned back at the Vaporeon "Sorry, I lose it sometimes...I just can't stand criminals."

Now more than tired of her attitude I made the choice to further sooth her quelling anger "Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm sure Team Resistance can handle it." I looked up "And plus, we're back at the Pokemon center."

An intense feeling of relief came over me as we entered the center, it had been a long day and I was looking forward to some rest. The white center relaxed me as the sounds of trainers caring for their Pokemon filled my ears. I'm not a softy but it brought a small bit of joy to my heart. Even as I saw my new trainer Jack in the corner of the room with the other two humans I felt as if this is where I belonged, not causing trouble on the roads just for the pursuit of knowledge.

One of the humans, the female one in all white clothing noticed us walk in and a large smile came on her face "Hey Ruby! You guys are back." With that the other two turned to look at us.

The British one who wore a tan suit jacket and slacks (For some odd reason, he must be uncomfortable ) walked up to Vapor with a smile and petted her on the head "Good to see you again miss, have a good day?"

Vapor nodded and replied "Yep!"

I found it interesting how Pokemon could still communicate with their trainers on a basic level despite the language barrier. There was a connection there with Vapor and Desmond, even with Ruby and Katherine.

Jack knelt down in front of me. He still wore a black jacket tucked into grey jeans, but his hair was messy now as if he didn't do anything with it. A smile was on his face, a genuine smile, as he said "Dexter, I know you and I haven't been with each other for long but I do want to see what you can do."

To show him I was listening I nodded and allowed him to continue.

"I want to have a training session with you, Spark and Night tomorrow just to see what you guys can do, is that alright with you?" he asked.

At first I was going to shake my head no, I wanted to rest. However as I looked into his emerald eyes I could tell that this was something he wanted to do very much. Not wanting to disappoint him I nodded and have a small smile "Sure." I said even though I fully knew he would never know what I was saying.

"Good" he replied "So you guys had a good day?"

I nodded yes.

"Awesome... now we just need to wait for Spark, Night, Razor and Jolt. I hope they're alright." said Jack standing back up.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they're fine." said Katherine as she brushed away some hair "Stop worrying yourself."

* * *

"You didn't need to do that back there".

Vernai turned her head to look at me as she questioned with "What?"

I sighed and repeated myself "You didn't need to do that back there, I could have handled myself."

The Venipede stopped and turned her head( Not sure how, she didn't appear to have a neck) and simply said "Umbreon, I saved your life back there. Believe it or not Steel was going to kill you." Her yellow eyes stood out in the dark, emotionless hallway.

My arrogance took over as I took the comment as an insult, Steel was not going to kill me...I wasn't going to die. Who did she think she was talking to. I'm freakin' Night the Umbreon. I'm the guy that was going to save Arceus and the world from the legendary dogs with the help of Azelf. I am the most important person here and there was no way after all I've been through could I except even losing to that douche-bag Lucario... I stopped myself, what the hell was I thinking? I was going to get creamed into the floor by that Lucario. He had downed that gigantic Tyranitar with little effort in 3 hits... three hits! To take down a fully evolved Tyranitar that looked like he could crush me if he wasn't looking where he was going.

Despite this I refused to show my thanks "Yeah whatever... lets just get going."

Verai raised a brow "Telling me what to do on top of challenging a fighting type to a brawl? You're either dumb, brave, or have a death wish. For your sake I hope its the second... The world needs more heroes."And with that the bug type continued to walk.

We hadn't been walking for another minute when Dawn nudged my side. Still walking I gazed over at the Purrloin and asked "What's up?"

Dawn had a look of intense shyness on her face as she looked at me. In her eyes I could tell what she was about to say was from the heart. Dawn, for the couple of hours (I think, there's no clocks in the Asylum) that I'd known her she's allways been sincere in addition to being super shy and afraid of confrontation while having a kind heart. If she said something I thought of it as true. She looked away from my eyes for the second it took for her to say "Thank you."

I quickly respond with "What?" unsure of what she had said.

The Purrloin looked me dead in the eyes and repeated herself in a more defined tone "Thank you."

I was so caught of guard by her statement that for a second I couldn't even think of a response out of pure shock. It's not that people have never thanked me before its that before that moment no one has never said it with that much emotion. They've always said it in passing or as just a standard gesture, but there was something about the way Dawn had said it. Of course she meant it but it was more than that. I had known Dawn for what felt like only hours but I felt something with spoke to me with such feeling and sincerity for someone I had just met and at that moment I realized we were becoming friends.

"Oh... N-no problem." I replied.

Dawn continued "No really, you didn't have to do that back there but you risked your skin for me and..." she paused for a moment "Just the last person who helped me like that, I didn't get to thank them so... thanks"

I couldn't help but smile "Your welcome then."

"Okay you two, we're here." interrupted Vernai (Completely ruined the moment) The Venipede stood in front of a normal sized metal door with a male human guarding it. The man was older and had a scruffy beard and seemed to not want to be there.

"Pass-code eagle beta." said Vernai in a human sounding voice. The human understood her and opened the door. I made note that she seemed to be able to switch between Pokemon and Human language with ease.

In front of me was a fairly small room but it was better light than the rest of the Asylum. It still had the same cold, emotionless walls that covered every side of this prison. There was a fresh scent in the air however seeing that the room I had just left had a heavy and dense smell I was just overjoyed to be able to take a whiff of semi-fresh air. In the center of this puny room was a table and three chairs, one of which was being used by a female human.

The instant I saw her I recognized her as the human I had seen when I entered the dark type area. A young and fairly good looking woman with blood red hair and just as red eyes. She wore a skin-tight white and black suit that expanded around her waist to form a sort of skirt. In the middle of her chest was a yellow 'G' which I assumed was the emblem for Team Galactic. Her sharp eyes scanned Dawn and I from the moment we entered the room and after a few seconds of staring she gave a smile and said "Welcome, it's good to see both of you are still okay..." she stood up "I'm going to assume that both of you only speak Pokemon?"

Not to pleased with my current situation ( You know, being held against my will in a crazy prison) I let a low growl escape my mouth as I nodded my head yes.

This human raised a brow "You're mad Night, that's understandable. Truthfully if I was in your predicament I would be furious as well," she put her hands on her waist "But if we want to get anywhere with this conversation I'm going to need both of you to comply." She switched her attention to Vernai "Did anything happen in the waiting area?"

"Dawn was attacked by Steel and Night attempted to defend her when I stepped in." said Vernai as she eyed me "Commander Mars, he showed courage. It was impressive, but dumb."

As she said that a thought entered my head, how in the Mew did they know my name? In fact, how did they know Dawn's name? It didn't make sense... how much did Team Galactic know about me, about us?

Mars nodded "Well, it seems you've seen just how brutal this place is." The human walked right over to me and knelt down in front of Dawn and I "I am truly sorry for the troubles this place has brought you. But I am trying to get it closed down. I know you don't trust me but I need you to understand that I have all your best interests at heart." she paused for a moment to stand back up "I hope to have this place shut down in two days... actually it's midnight, so one day. I don't have absolute say yet, but my boss is going to approve shutting this place down."

"Can we trust her Night?" asked Dawn in my ear. To tell you the truth, I really didn't know whether to trust Mars or not.

"She asked whether they could trust you." said Vernai, she was working as a translator for Mars. Smart.

Mars smirked and worked her way back over to her chair and sat down "Night, Dawn, you can ask me anything you want and I will try my best to answer your questions to the fullest. But there is something I want you to do for me first..."

"And what would that be?" I inquired.

That didn't even need to be transalted, Mars picked up on it instantly. She sighed and said " I need you to tell me what you know, if anything, about these three Pokemon. Requiem, Napoleon..."

"...and Ferne."

* * *

"He's been kidnapped?" yelled Vapor in a frenzied panic "What do you mean he's been kidnapped?"

I sighed, I knew she would take this hard. We had just came back to the Pokemon center and I had volunteered to tell everyone about Night. On our way back Black said he had business to attend to, but Ferne insisted on coming back with us. She said she felt responsible and basically forced us to bring her along.

"He got taken by a psychic," added on Jolt "There was nothing we could do." There was a tone off anger in his voice that I had never heard from him before. Jolt was usually calm and collected but with the current situation I guess all of us were a little on the edge.

There was a moment of complete silence before Ruby asked "Do you know who did it, or where he might be?" Her voice had a tone of worry, she cared about what happened to Night. The Umbreon had gotten to Ruby and despite what she said or how she acted I could tell that there was some sort of connection between Night and Ruby.

Ferne stepped in "He was taken by Team Galactic, I'm sure of it."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dexter's ears perk up across the room, what Ferne had said sparked his interest. His ears lowered again after a moment but I was sure he was still listening.

"Who is Team Galactic?" asked Vapor, still distraught from the news. "Why would they want to take my brother?"

"They're apparently an organization from Sinnoh, kinda like a Team Rocket from another region." I answered. Ferne had told Spark Jolt and I all about Team Galactic and how they operated. I frowned "But we really have no idea where they may have taken him."

The look on Vapor's face when I finished still tugs at my heartstrings today. She swallowed hard and placed a paw on her chest and looked down. A look of incredible pain was on her face as started to sob.

"Hey," added Jolt as he approached her "I'm sure we'll find him, don't cry miss." his voice was calming and soothing, but it wasn't enough to stop Vapor from venting her emotions. Hell, I bet all of us wanted to cry. Spark was completely silent and simply stood there with his arms crossed. Ruby had a look of quiet anger in her eyes but was holding it back to keep from causing a scene. Jolt was busy consoling and calming Vapor while Ferne just stood there, thinking.

"I might have an idea..."

All of us turned and saw Dexter (Who had made his way across the room) and the serious expression on his face "If it is Team Galactic there is only one place that they could take him."

Everyone was surprised at this information, but Ferne looked like she was studying Dexter and trying to figure something out.

The Espeon continued " I need to think this through first and come up with a plan, but I can guarantee that getting him out will be difficult. He is in a place called 'The Asylum' and it is located just outside the city."

"How would you know this?" asked Spark finally coming out of his silence.

"I know a lot of things Spark and I've scanned a lot of minds and I am sure that is this is Galactic's work he must be-"

"When are you going to stop fooling these Pokemon Requiem?" interrupted Ferne with a stern tone.

This sudden outburst surprised everyone, including me. I saw Dexter's expression change instantly after Ferne's comment from a calm and collected look to one of anger. His blue eyes got a little darker and him paws tensed up, whatever Ferne had just said it brought out some thought or feelings Dexter had been hiding.

The Espeon composed himself and responded with "I'm not fooling anyone Jane... oh sorry, do you go by Ferne now? If you want to talk about anything I would be fine with us having a conversation after this one. I want to help Night and I'm sure you do as well, but I'm going to need you to not bring things up that have nothing to do with saving Night... understood?"

Ferne gritted her teeth, but stayed silent after Dexter's tirade.

"Is your name Requiem Dexter?" asked Vapor in a soft voice.

The Espeon sighed "It used to be, a long time ago. Back when I was a... different person." he shook his head "But I'm sure you don't care about that, you care about how we're going to save Night. I'll tell you this, give me the night to think about a plan and I'll tell you guys about it tomorrow ."

"Wait, wait... you just expect us to just go along with some plan that you come up with?" said Ruby "We all know Night and we all want to help him, but I want to be able to be a part of the plan to save him. I'm not just going to sit by and let you, a newbie, tell me what to do."

For a second Dexter was quiet, most likely because Ruby is really intimidating, but said "Fine, you can all think of something by morning. However we cannot get the police involved, they'll just make it harder for-"

"I'm not waiting anymore!" shouted Jack from across the room. For the whole time we had been talking he had been worried about what was going on with Night. Katherine and Desmond were trying to calm him down but finnaly his emotions go the best of him. He pulled out his poke-gear and started to press a few keys.

"What are you doing?" demanded Desmond.

"What the hell do you think I'm doing, I'm calling the police. Night's missing." responded the worried human.

"Wow," I said with a stupid smile on my face " Kinda jinxed that didn't ya?"


	48. The Asylum: The Calm Before the Storm

Alright then, time for chapter 48. I've got a lot of stuff going on in this chapter, from a new character, to little bits of info that will make a lot of sense later.

Also got another poll for ya, who do you think would win in an all out, no holds barred fight. Ruby, or Dexter- this will also be on my profile.

Enjoy!

* * *

Vermilion city is such a curious place. It is beautiful without a doubt with it's wonderful sea breezes, outstanding shores and awesome sights, it was a tourist's dream. But I would be lying if I didn't say the main reason people came to this city was yours truly. I know what you're thinking, what kind of arrogant ass wipe would say that they were the reason people traveled from Sinnoh all the way to Kanto just to see? Well, you obviously do not know who you are talking to. I'm sure you've heard of me seeing that I am world famous but I'll introduce myself anyway. I have earned the right to be called Napoleon the Snivy by my adoring public and I graciously excepted the name. At the time I wore my usual attire ( a Pokemon of my status can't walk around naked) of a gray oxford shirt with a black tie. Also I had my usual gear, a black belt with various throwing knives and a dagger (For protection of course.) I would wear pants, but regrettably they don't sell pants that fit Snivys.

You didn't know me? Well that's an ego killer...

Anyway, I suppose I should inform you of my situation seeing that I have caught your attention. You see, I was taking an evening stroll down the Vermilion boardwalk and enjoying myself. I always loved that about Vermilion, it had one of the best coast in the world ( only second to Undella Bay in Unova of course, I love my home region). The ocean always calmed me down and gave me time to think while not being bothered. The sun was setting across the water and creating every color between red and purple. The colors seemed to skip across the water with the waves and created an effect that could only be called magical.

"Um, excuse me... Mr. Napoleon sir..."

I stopped at the voice and turn my head to the source. Behind me was a young Oddish that was blushing so bad she looked more red that blue. With her leaves she held a pen and a picture of me( looking sexy by the way). From the way she was shaking it I could tell the Oddish was very nervous with meeting me.

I flashed a smile and said "Hello... I'm guessing you're a fan?"

The fellow grass type nodded and quickly said "Yes"

I turned around completely and faced the little Pokemon "Well then it's a pleasure to meet you."

"C-can you sign this for me and my friends?" asked the Oddish with a desperate tone in her voice "It'd be really awesome if you did."

Over her head at least 20 feet away I saw a group of Pokemon kids all starring at me. I took the picture from her hand and clicked the pen "Luckily for you I am pretty awesome, so..." I quickly did my signature and added 'Always stay awesome' before giving it back "There you go, now run back to your friends.

With the picture firmly in her leaf's grasp she ran back shouting "He did it, he did it!" I watched as they all took turns looking at it am marveling in it. I was a hero to them and they looked up to me, and I won't lie... it felt good inside.

* * *

The instant Mars said Ferne my entire body tensed up, they knew that I knew her. I had a feeling that I was in here because of my relation with Ferne but when Mars mentioned her name I knew they were looking for info on her. I purposely chose to say quiet and hopped to Mew that Dawn had some idea of who the other two were. And luckily for me she did.

"I-I know who Napoleon is..." she said with a bit of hesitation "Why do you want to know about him?

Vernai translated and Mars smirked "He is just a Pokemon on interest, now tell us what you know and I would really appreciate it."

The Purrloin looked down and said "I know he's really popular in Vermilion city and that he's really strong."

Napoleon, I never heard the name before. But then again I am just some Umbreon from some backwater area that no one cares about so I guess I'm not well versed in common life all to well. The way Dawn said it I could tell she was holding something back and from the way Mars looked at her after Vernai translated again I seemed she knew as well.

Mars leaned back in her chair and sighed "Dawn, I don't like it when people withhold information from me. Tell me what you know please." from her tone of voice I could tell she was keeping her anger in check but still felt some compassion for us and our situation.

Despite that Dawn seemed a bit shaken by the Galactic's comment and looked at me for support. I gave her a smile and nodded to reassure her. With my coaching Dawn continued. "I met him a couple of months ago in Vermilion while I was being hassled by some human that wanted to catch me." she paused for a moment "He come out of nowhere and defended me while taking out every single one of their Pokemon. He so fast I could barley see his movements. He was a little arrogant but he was amazing, he defeated all those Pokemon without even using those knifes around his waist."

"She said he was strong and arrogant and that he saved her from some trainers in Vermilion city." translated Vernai with a watered down version.

Mars nodded "I guess the rumors are true, Napoleon seems to have incredible battle ability. Now all we have to do is find out how a Snivy got to Kanto..." As she talked I got the feeling that I wouldn't have to rat out Ferne, but just as I was getting comfortable Vernai said "Mars, one of our field units reported that they saw Night having contact with Ferne yesterday."

_'Goddamn it Vernai, you had to rat me out.' _I thought as Mars looked at me with a smirk.

"You've been trying to hide that from us Night? In case you don't know, we see everything. Just come out with it, I'm sure it'll be easier than the alternative."

I didn't even want to hear what the alternative was and I really wanted to save my ass at that moment. So I talked (Sorry Ferne)." I met her a few months ago on route one. She helped me out with a group of annoying Weedle so I asked her over to my place. We had a good talk and she left." I sighed "As you know I met her again in the city yesterday, met this weird black Vulpix named Black and we got into a little trouble with some insane Pikachu with a knife in a jumpsuit. Then we..."

"Wait." interrupted Vernai "Mars, he said that a Pikachu in a jumpsuit with daggers attacked them and that a black Vulpix helped them."

Mars jumped out of her seat with that information and yelled "What?" she looked at me dying for more info "Night I need you to tell me everything you know about that Pikachu and that Vulpix, forget Ferne. We have all the intel we need on her, just tell me everything you know about those two."

Surprised by Mars' sudden boast in energy I made the obvious observation that apparently Black and the Pikachu were really important. Wanting to please my captures as much as possible I spilled the beans. " I remember that the Pikachu seemed to know Ferne and Black and she was ruthless. She killed one of her own men..." I paused to think of more "Black knew Ferne really well... oh and the Pikachu's name was Claire. Why is this so important?"

Vernai translated " Night, that Pikachu is an enemy of Team Galactic and Black... he's complicated. Is that all you know about them?"

I nodded and Mars believed me "Alright, that should be good for now. Thank you for the information you two, we will put it to good use." she stood up out of her chair "Now, any questions for me? I keep my promises."

I instantly said "Why are we here?" and Vernai quickly translated.

Commander Mars nodded and walked around the table to get closer to me. She knelt down and crossed her arms and sighed "You are here because the people that run this place have gotten way out of hand. This place is everything Team Galactic wants to stop. We want peace, not an 'Asylum'. This place was opened to help Pokemon recover from injuries, physical and mental. It's evolved into an uncontrollable concentration camp where Pokemon only leave if they are deemed 'incapable of mental heath'. As I said, it will be shutting down soon but you two will need to survive here until then."

All of a sudden there was a loud beep emitting through the room that only lasted a second before stopping. Mars frowned "I'm sorry but I that is the light's off alarm... I need to get you two back to your area." She gave both of us looks of pity "I really hope I get to see you guys again," she turned to Vernai "Keep them safe." and with that we were guided back to the Dark area by Vernai. I thought it was fine, we would only have to stay there two days tops. That can't be to bad.

How completely wrong I was...

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here Requiem?" demanded Ferne with a stern voice "And why are you getting involved with this innocent group of Pokemon?" She was mad, and for good reason. We were outside the Pokemon Center on the side and were having the talk I had promised her. "Do you get some kind of sick thrill out of fooling these people?"

I sighed, this would be hard to explain "Ferne I know this is going to sound like a lie, but I want to leave my old life behind. Yes I made some mistakes but I'm trying to atone for them."

"By getting these Pokemon involved with your situation? Do I need to remind you of the danger you are putting them in?" asked Ferne.

I frowned "Do you know the kind of trouble _you've_ put them in? From what they said you guys got attacked by Team Rocket and Team Galactic in the same day. You know Claire better than I do but I'm pretty sure she's dedicated when it comes to her job."

"I wasn't trying to get them involved, I was simply having a drink in a club when Night approached me. They saw him and made the connection. You on the other hand went on some kind of psychic adventure in Night's mind only to get your ass kicked by him afterwords." barked back Ferne.

I paused and gritted my teeth "How did you know about that?"

The Leafeon grinned "The Pikachu told me, I know a lot of things Requiem."

At the mention of that name I tensed up and struggled to contain the surge of emotions that come with that name "Don't call me that, that's not who I am anymore."

Ferne sighed and looked away at me. For a moment she just sat there in thought before saying "Dexter, believe me... no matter how hard you try they past always catches up to you." she looked at me again "For your sake I sincerely hope that you've changed, but the people that know who you are will never forget who you are and what you used to do."

I looked down, knowing she was right. I couldn't run much longer from what I used to do. "I know," I said "If anyone knows about that it's you."

For a second we just stood there deep in our thoughts of the things that we've done, regretting all of them. As the moon shown down at us I couldn't help but think of Night and all of the things me must be going through. I had a plan, but I had no idea of how effective it would be.

"So... any luck with finding your brothers?" I asked the break the silence " I know that's why you're in Cerulean."

"The Leafeon shook her head in dismay "No... nothing. All I know is that they work for Team Rocket and they are very high ranked, higher than Claire." she paused for a moment "Any luck in your quest for ultimate knowledge ?" she said with a smile.

I chuckled "No, I've had to put that on hold for a bit. I have more pressing issues at hand like saving Night from the Asylum. Speaking of that, Ferne can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what?" she replied.

"There is no way in hell I'm going to be able to bust Night out without you. I know the skills you posses and I really will need someone like you for my plan to work. I'm not asking you to give an answer now but please consider- "

"I'll help you." she interpreted "I care about Night too, I'd be happy to help."

Care...care... did I care about Night? I know he has a bit of a dislike for me and our relationship has been pretty bad so far... but I was helping him anyway. I could just leave him to rot there instead of risking my ass to save someone I had only met a few days before. I guess on some level I did care about Night, he was a good Umbreon if there is one.

I nodded "Thanks for your support, now I think we should get some sleep." I looked up at the moon "We have a busy day ahead of us."


	49. The Asylum: Making Preparations

Okay then, new chapter and a new poll. On a scale of one to five how much do you trust Dexter? This question will also be on my profile so vote it up!

* * *

"You can't take them, I have direct orders from Commander Mars to get them back to their area." said Vernai with an angry voice.

Steel smirked, showing his razor sharp teeth, "Sorry Verny, this order comes straight from the warden himself..." the Lucario lowered himself so that he was face-to-face with the bug type "and you would't want to openly defy a commanding officer's orders. In here the warden gets final say and he says to bring these two in for a test. Understand?"

Vernai sighed in defeat "Go with him you two, I can't go against an order."

Steel glanced over to Dawn and I and said "You heard her, come on." Everything in my body was telling me not to go, I had no idea what kind of things this Lucario had in store for me and Dawn. But there was no way to get away, I had seen how strong the Lucario is and I was in no rush to get killed.

So despite my inner warnings I went with the Lucario with Dawn sticking close to me. Something wasn't right. Judging from what Mars had said the alarm that had sounded indicated the end of the day and all prisoners were sent back to their holding areas. Steel had said the warden had told him directly to get us but something didn't seem right.

As we made our way down the dark and dim light hallways thoughts of the legendary dogs found their way into my head. What were they doing this whole time. If what Azelf said was true then I would think they'd be actively hunting me down. But so far I haven't even seen them. Maybe Azelf was lying. As my thought's went to Azelf I again wondered why he hadn't done anything to save me? If he was as strong as I thought he was breaking me out of this place would be no problem.

"Umbreon, this is your stop." shouted Steel, snapping me back into reality. We were in front of a metal door, one that looked just like the countless I had seen before.

"What do you mean my stop?" I asked, but Steel ignored me. The Lucario padded over to the door and proceeded to type in some complicated code into a keyboard next to it. Suddenly a very familiar screeching sound emitted from the door as it slowly opened. When it was completly opened I was totally shocked at who was inside.

"Pyro, what are you doing in there?" I demanded. The houndour looked at me with a look of pity, something bad was about to happen. I could feel it.

"Get in the cell Umbreon," spoke Steel. He grabbed me by my chest fur and put me up to his face "Now."

"What are you going to do with Dawn?" I asked with fear tainting my voice.

The Lucario simply smirked " The Purrloin? We have some special treatment for her." with that he tossed me into the cell with ease. Before I could even get to my feet he typed in a code again and the door started to close. As they did I saw Dawn's eye's fill with fear.

Just before the doors had closed completly I shouted "Stay strong Dawn, it'll be alright!" Then the doors were closed and the room was enveloped in darkness. Part of their plan must be to have us in total darkness to scare us, but that didn't work for two reasons. One, we were dark types. We love the dark. And two, even if the dark scared us I had rings that tend to glow in the dark.

"What's going on Pyro?" I asked "What are they going to do to her."

With the dim light I was providing I saw the look of intense regret on his face. The houndour looked down and sighed "Night, do you really want me to tell you? I'm sure you won't like it."

The moment he said that my heart sank and my veins went cold, they were going to do something horrible to her. My heart didn't want to know, but my mind did. However, at that moment I couldn't take knowing the hell those Galactic bastards were going to put Dawn through.

"Is it..., just tell me she'll be okay after all this Pyro." I looked at him with hope "Please just tell me she'll live."

Pyro gritted his teeth and said "She'll live, but... I can't tell you she'll be okay." his body tensed up " If I said that I'd be lying."

* * *

"I thought you'd never show up. Do you know how long we've been waiting out here?" said Ace. It was the next morning and I had gone out to meet the rockets from yesterday only to be greeted by that.

"Good to see you too, now if you don't mind I would like to get down to business, the sun's comming up soon." I replied in an annoyed tone. It was around 5 o'clock and therefore very early. Seeing that I went to sleep around 12 I only got five hours of sleep, which is not helpful to my mood. I needed to stay focused though, the information that the Rockets had to offer could be very useful later.

"I could't agree more, so how's about you tell us where the Asylum is?" spoke Crystal. Her cold eyes stared into mine with a look of urgency. She wanted to get this done ASAP and I could respect that, but I also knew she was smart. She wanted me to talk first because she had more to lose. As far as she knew, I had police around to corner just waiting for the signal to jump. I could easily get the info I needed and turn them over to the police after they had no use. It wasn't that she didn't trust me, she just knew the situation.

I love a women that knows how to think.

"Of course, I keep my promises. The Asylum is an underground facility located north east of the city, deep in the forest. I would tell you the location on the map, but the area it is in happens to not be on the map." I frowned "But if you don't know the passcode in I wouldn't even go in the area."

"Passcode, like a key-card?" asked Ace.

I shook my head "It's a spoken code that changes every month, I don't even know what it is. But that info was not part of the deal. I've told you were the asylum is, so tell me about the Alpha Squad."

The sun was coming up by now and I wanted to hurry this interaction up. The last thing I wanted to happen was for me to get caught by someone talking to Rockets.

Crystal smirked and nodded "Sure Espeon, I'll tell you about them."

"Are you sure we should tell him, this is very dangerous information Crystal." whispered the Pidgeotto thinking I couldn't hear him.

The Glaceon shook her head "He's trusted us enough to tell us about the Asylum and we should honor our end of the deal. But, if you're lying about the asylum... lets just say we won't be too happy."

I nodded "Understood, now please continue."

"What you are about to hear is very sensitive info and in the wrong hands could get us into a lot of trouble." said Ace with a defined tone. He was serous about this, they were going to tell me the truth.

"Team Rocket's Alpha squad consists of two highly trained Pokemon that were hand-picked before birth by Giovanni himself to be molded into the perfect solders. Fromm what we know they are 2 of 3 siblings and are very close and trust each other with their lives, so if you were going to try and break them up it won't work." started Crystal.

I sneered "Stop stalling, I already know all of that stuff. I want to know what kind of Pokemon they are, I want to know if the rumors are true."

The Pidgeotto looked surprised by my want to go to the point. Crystal smirked, perhaps impressed by my urgency and continued "The members of Alpha squad are two Eevee evolutions that have yet to be discovered in nature. One is steel type and the other is poison."

I felt my blood pump faster, this was just the kind of info I was looking for. Just needed to dig a little deeper "How is that possible though? Did they give them DNA form poison and steel types at a young age?"

Crystal smirked "I said I would tell you who they are, and I did. That was our deal and I'm holding with it."

Crap she's good. For a moment I wondered if I should try to force the information out of them but I was in no mood for a fight and that wouldn't help the situation at all. I smirked and nodded "Alright then this was very helpful, thank you for the information."

Ace nodded "Likewise..."

I turned to go back into the Pokemon center, but before they were out of ear shout I said "I hope you find your trainers, they seemed like nice humans."

* * *

"Okay Dexter, what's the plan?" I asked with anticipation. The next morning had come and I was ready for whatever that day had in store. All of us including Ferne had met up in the lobby of the Pokemon center. Seeing that Jack had called the police force to report Night missing he, Katherine and Desmond had gone down to the police station, leaving us alone to go through with our (Also known as Dexter's) plan.

"Wait a sec Razor... as requested by Ruby here does anyone else have a plan?" asked Dexter in a smart-ass tone. Obviously directing his statement to Ruby he was looking right at her.

The Vulpix rolled her eyes "No... carry on."

Dexter nodded "Good, now pay attention because I don't like repeating myself. Night is being held in a facility run by Team Galactic called 'The Asylum' which is located just outside Cerulean. I know how to get in as well, so that won't be an issue. The only thing is once we are inside we need to be quick and precise in all of our actions. Galactic runs a smooth operation with cameras, patrols and alarm systems. This is a very dangerous job and I want all of you to understand the peril you'll be putting yourself in if you carry it out." he looked around the room at all of us "If this goes wrong very bad things will happen to all of us, Galactic tends to have swift and viscous punishment, okay. Is that understood?"

Vapor, despite the situation, seemed very strong willed and nodded. Jolt, who was next to her, smirked and said "We know what we're getting into mate, now get on with the plan. The rest of us voiced our agreement in the statement.

"Alright then, perfect." said Dexter with a smirk "This is what we're goinna do..."

* * *

You seriously thought I would tell you what the plan was? By now you should know that I adore cliffhangers. But fret not, next chapter is gonna be really important. The conclusion of The Asylum is coming, but boy has it been a long ride. I've spent close to 20 chapters in Cerulean city and haven't even gotten to the gym yet!


	50. The Asylum: The Breakout Part 1

And wow, chapter 50. Holy Arceus I cannot believe it's gotten this long. 10 chapters in or about the Asylum latter and we are nearing the end of this arc, but don't think I built all the way up to this for nothing. I've got some secrets I need to exploit before I can move on and I've wanted tell you guys these for so long it's almost killing me to not be able to tell you sooner.

A new question as well : Out of these characters who's past are you more interesting... Ruby, Night, Dexter or Ferne? As always the question will be on my profile.

* * *

I couldn't sleep, I could barley close my eyes without being tormented by my thoughts. _'What were they doing to her, what were they doing to Dawn?' _was all I could manage to let into my mind. They were doing something horrible to her, I could just tell. Standing straight up in the dark cell I was literally shaking from the fear that engulfed me. I wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon.

Beside me... or at least somewhere in the cell slept Pyro, he had been snoring for the past few minutes. Or had it been hours? I couldn't tell. All I knew is that despite the situation he still managed to fall asleep and not worry about what was going on. How could he do it... how in the hell could he still manage to fall into a peaceful sleep while Dawn was suffering I'd never know.

It's amazing what time in such a lonely place does to someone. The darkness was comforting, but ominous. It was empty and shallow, full of nothing. Without it I would at least be able to study my surroundings in detail, but with it all I could do was sit there and wait. Wait for something to happen.

_'Where the hell are you Azelf, you're suppose to protect me and guide me. You haven't done anything...why?' _I said in my mind _'Help me you son of a bitch, help the guy that's gonna save Arceus.'_

I slowly closed my eyes, sleep was taking over. I tried to fight it, but in the end my body won. However, the moment I fell asleep I still remained alert and present. My state of being wasn't transferred to my subconscious and yet again I found myself standing in the endless field of white that I was starting to get used to.

I sighed "Again, really. I'm starting to get tired of this Azelf."

"Azelf is not here at the moment Night." spoke a strong female voice.

Almost pooping myself I jumped in surprise and looked behind me to see the source of the voice, and boy was I surpised at what I saw.

"Holy Mew...you're Articuno!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Before me stood the ice legendary bird in all of her glory. She hovered over me with her icy blue coat of feathers and red eyes scanning me. This was without a doubt Articuno, but what did she want with me.

"Stand up Umbreon, I need to speak with you." said the bird in a calm voice "Something has come up."

Still in complete shock I managed to focus myself and stand up, it was time to get serious. It was in that moment that I realized the scope of what I was involved in. Before I thought it was just Azelf and I, but with Articuno showing up I saw this was a big issue.

Articuno seemed to realized I was a bit worried and did her best to sooth me "Don't be afraid Night, I'm here to help you."

"You're going to help me escape the asylum?" I asked with excitement in my voice,.

She lowered her head "Mew has not decieded wheter or not action will be taken to save you, but I assure you that we will not let anything happen to you. If you're going to help Arceus recover we will protect you."

"Can you do anything to get me out the the Asylum?" I asked, starting to get comfortable around the large bird "Because that'd be pretty cool."

At this question looked away "Mew has not chosen whether or not he should break Arceus' commands, so I am not sure if I will save you."

"What command did Arceus give, isn't she sick or something?" I asked again with my interest peaking.

"I really shouldn't tell you, I have no idea how much Mew and Mewtwo want you to know at this point...sorry."

"Wait,wait... you report to Mew and Mewtwo? Aren't all legendaries under Arcues' rule?" I questioned.

This seemed to hit a nerve in the large bird, which scared me a little. If she was able to get into my mind I had no idea what she was able to do to it. I lowered my head and apologized.

Articuno waved a wing "It is fine Night, you are only curious... besides I am only here to check on your mental state and you seem fine so I'll be on my way."

I smirked "What, leaving so soon? I was enjoying the talk." I whined.

"We can talk all you want latter Umbreon, right now I suggest you try and get some sleep." And before I could blink my eyes I was back in that cell, the silent darkness was back and for the first time I found myself wanting to be in the emptiness of my subconscious.

I sighed "Cool... alone again."

* * *

Everything was set and ready. I had run the simulation through my mind countless times trying to find a crack in the plan or something that might go wrong. It was perfect, it had to be. As I sat in the forest contemplating all the variables I was confident in my plan. It would work, there was no doubt in my mind.

"You all set Dexter?"

I turned my head to see Vapor standing there with a worried look on her face. Just from her expression I could see she was very stressed about what was going on, who wouldn't be. I put a smile on my face to confort her and said "Yep, is everyone else ready?"

She nodded with a new found smile on her face and replied "Yes."

"Good, come on lets go." I responded and started to walk towards the rest of the group. I had guided them to an area that I knew was on low population so we'd have out privacy and avoid the spying eyes of Team Galactic. It was a clearing in the middle of a dense forest that was just under a klick away from the Asylum. When we entered the clearing everyone was having a conversation about this whole ordeal.

"I think it's a good idea, Dexter seems to have this thing figured out." said Razor.

"Maybe" said Jolt, "But this whole thing seems to simple. I don't know much about these Team Galactic fellows but I would think they have security systems in place to stop things like this."

Ruby stepped in "I agree with Jolt, I think Dexter's underestimating Galactic. If they were able to capture Night and use a psychic type move effectively on a Umbreon they have some serious power."

"I'm not underestimating Team Galactic, be sure of that." I said defending myself. They all turned to look at me as I continued "Team Galactic is dangerous, don't forget that. But they are not some invincible force. They are an organization that is very organized but they do have small flaws that we can exploit. This facility has a strong focus on trying to keep the population of inmates inside. This means that there is a very small amount of security keeping others out and that it the reason this plan will succeed ."

A silence filled the clearing as my fellow Pokemon contemplated what I had just said. I ended the quietness with one more question "Now, is everyone ready. Once this starts there's no turning back."

"I'm ready." spoke out Spark, who besides Vapor was probably the one who was closest to Night.

"Me too" said Vapor with a smile still on her face.

"I'm up for a rescue" spoke up Razor.

"I'm ready to kick some ass" said Ruby (Of course)

"And so am I" added Jolt looking straight at Vapor, who instantly blushed as he spoke.

"Good then" said Ferne before turning to me "Lets get this started."

* * *

The door was opening, I don't know how long we were in there but the door was finally opening. My heart seemed to be beating through my chest as the anticipation started to come. By then Pyro had awoken and was standing next to me but was noticeably more calm than I was. Having spent his whole life in the asylum he had most likely seen the results of Team Galactic "test sessions" and was expecting whatever results they had on Dawn.

As the door opened wider the light from the outside was low,but still enough to cause a shock to my eyes. Once the door was open enough I heard the familiar voice of Steel say "Now get in there." Afterwords there was a moment of intense silence when the whole world seemed to stand still. After a moment of that Steel said "I said get _in _Purrloin!" with a more define tone.

Through the opening in the door I saw Steel push Dawn in through the door. She fell to the ground with a grunt as the door started to close again

I rushed over to her "Are you okay?" I almost yelled with anger and fear in my voice. I was surprised at how emotional I was getting about this. I had only known this Pokemon for a day, maybe two, and I was on the floor almost crying for her. It was astounding how fast I had allowed myself to open up my emotions to this Purrloin. She had been open to me, but ussualy I can stop myself from getting to attached and involved. That's what I did with Spark... he was nice to me but I simply brushed him aside even though he was my friend. But I just couldn't do that to Dawn, I couldn't just let her feel alone here.

"Give her some space Night, she's been through a lot." spoke Pyro as he approached her. From the sound of his voice he seemed relieved as well that Dawn looked alright but was no hurry to show it.

"I'm..." started Dawn in a weak tone "I'm fine... thank you." Her head was looking straight at the ground as she picked herself up with her wobbly legs. Her breathing was hard and she looked tired but besides that she looked perfectly fine, well, at least until she looked up at me.

My blood ran cold as the Purrloin's eyes met mine and my expression of reilef quickly turned into one of worry. I saw Pyro lower his eyes and shake his head.

"What?" asked Dawn "What's wrong."

"Dawn..." I said "You... you have green eyes. Right?"

The feline nodded quickly "Yes, of course. What's wrong Night?" Her voice showed her intense worry.

I looked down and sighed "Dawn what did they do to you?"

Her eyes started to water "I don't know, they put me to sleep... What's wrong with me Night?"

"Your eyes are red Dawn." blurted Pyro "They gave you something that messed with your genetic makeup."

As much as I wished that the Houndour was lying, he wasn't. One of Dawn's most obvious attributes were her deep green eyes but whatever Galactic did to her the pigment in her eyes was now red. "I'm sorry Dawn" finished Pyro.

"What?" yelled the feline "You can't be serious, my eyes are red now? How does that even happen?" She was in shock. Just a few moments before she struggled to stand but in this rush of adrenaline she was now pacing back and forth.

"Dawn they did tests on you, that's what they do here. You survived with what looks like very minor side-effects, okay. You should consider yourself luck-"

Before Pyro could finish his sentence an incredibly loud explosion cracked from a ways away. The force was so large virbations could be felt in the walls and on the ground.

"What is going on here?" I yelled "I'm pretty sure that's not common, is it Pyro?"

The canine growled "It's not, something's up, but whatever it is I'm sure it can't be good for Team Galactic." his growl turned into a toothy grin" And that means it's good for us."

* * *

"Is that part of the plan Dex?" asked Ferne as we watched a plume of smoke rise up from the ground. Without a doubt that was an explosion, a controled one. I hadn't planned for this, but it was going to help us out.

"No,"I replied to Ferne with a smirk "But now getting this done is going to be much easier with a distraction. With the naked eyes all you would see was a clearing in the forest with a cave in the middle but with the information I had I knew that this was the back door to the Asylum. This was it, no more planning, no more calculating, no more doubts.

"This is it guys," I said before turning to the group "It's time to start this."


	51. The Asylum: The Breakout Part 2

Alright so before I start chapter 51 I want to ask you guys a question. If you've been reading this story from the start you by now should be used to my writing style by now (If you haven't then, I'm sorry for not being consistent). But I would want to ask you two things. One would be what can I do to make the story better? More description, more conversation? To better describe the story? Anything I can do to improve the story. Thanks guys

Now onto the poll and this one's a little harder. If Night had to choose out of these characters which one to live who do you think he would choose?

Ruby, Dawn, or Ferne?

This one will of course be on my profile.

* * *

The autumn breeze rushed through the trees with the hot midday sun beating down on us. Local Pokemon were fleeing the area as the smoke from the explosion rose into the sky only to be blown away into the wind. Under the pads of my feet I could feel the vibrations, Humans and Pokemon alike rushing around to take their posts. I couldn't help but smile, Team Galactic never expected anyone to attack the Asylum head on. Not only was I going in but I had backup in the form of a determined squad and with the assistance of an old friend. And just in case that wasn't enough there was a commotion going on so we would have the perfect hole in security to sneak though.

Things couldn't be more perfect.

"Alright guys, time to start phase one." I spoke "Let's move."

With quiet but swift movements with the backup of Ruby and Razor I moved up to the "cave" entrance. It jutted out of the ground about 6 feet and looked fairly convincing, convincing if you weren't me. I knew this was an entrance to the asylum and I knew what kind of security they had here. All I needed to do was exploit it.

"You guys ready?" I whispered to the Bulbasaur and Vulpix. Ruby rolled her eyes(for reasons you will soon find out) and Razor nodded with iron-willed determination.

"Good, then action."

"Sorry if this hurts Rubes." said Razor as he picked up Ruby with his vines. The fox didn't even dignify that with a response, of course she wouldn't let herself get hurt. With one fairly strong movement Razor tossed the fire-type on the ground, right in front of the entrance.

"Wait, please stop!" yelled the Vulpix sounding surprisingly docile "I'll give you anything."

Just on cue Razor jumped in front of the cave entrance with a evil looking smile on his face "Oh you think I'm going to let you live?" With his vines he grabbed one of Ruby's paws "You're gonna die here fox."

Quite satisfyed with how the preformence was going on I peaked around the corner into the cave and was very pleased with what I saw. Standing there about 10 feet into the cave was a Treecko and a Piplup both wearing Galactic emblems and both looking very worried at the situation they saw evolving in front of their eyes. The Treecko was shaking in her boots and the Piplup simply watched with amazement.

With the best acting I had ever seen Ruby looked directly into the eyes of the Treeko and yelled "Please help me, he's going to kill me!" Fake tears started to roll down her face as Razor held her whole body down with his vines "I'm begging you!"

"We have to do something!" said the Treecko to her partner with a begging tone.

The Piplup frowned and said "I know, but we were told to not leave this spot no matter what."

At this point Razor started to add lip, and may I say it was outstanding. "Wait, so you'll just let me kill and eat this Vulpix right in front of you and do nothing?" he looked back down a Ruby and licked his lips "Perfect." (That whole eating thing wasn't even in the script, sick bastard made that up on the spot.)

"Please help me, I don't wanna die!" pleaded Ruby, her voice even more frantic than before. Then I guess she came up with an idea that when I think about it is genius but at the moment it happened I'm sure Razor was just as surprised as I was. With a solid swing Ruby slapped Razor across the face with such force he almost fell over. With him stunned she fled to the two Galactic members and hid behind them "Don't let him kill me!"

Both Galactic's smirked "They said we couldn't move from this spot," said the Piplup "But they said nothing about defending a Vulpix from a crazy Bulbasaur."

The Treecko took a step at Razor "Come and take us you monster, you won't hurt this Vulpix any mo-" *thump*

The lizard's voice cut off instantly as Ruby jabbed the Treecko at the base of her neck and with a thud the Pokemon fell to the ground knocked out. The Piplup turned and saw his partner on the ground and Ruby standing over her and put the pieces together.

"You little punk, what do you think yo-"

"You should turn around." interpreted Ruby with a smile.

The Piplup frowned 'Why would I do-" was all he had time to say before Razor nailed him with a double-edge that sent him flying into the side of the cave. The Penguin hit the wall and collapsed to the ground, joining his partner in the world of the unconscious.

"Was double edge seriously necessarily?" asked Ruby now effectively out of character.

"I don't know, was slapping me across the face with your claws out necessary?" he said pointing to the three scratch marks on his face.

"Nice job you two," I said stepping into the mouth of the cave before Ruby could respond. I nudged the Treecko as I said "That worked like a charm." I turned and motioned the others to join us. Step one was complete.

* * *

"Pyro have you ever been inside a cell like this?" asked Night to the Houndour "Cus' we've been in here for a while now."

"Yes, I have been in a cell before but never this long. Something's up, most likely that explosion we heard." He looked at the door through the darkness "Usually during emergencies they round up all the Pokemon in small cells and throw them into their common areas but for some reason they haven't done anything yet." He pause for a moment before continuing "This must be something really big if they aren't following usual procedure."

I simply sat there still thinking about what had happened to me. Red eyes... how would those look? A month before I left home my mother said to me' No matter how much you change you will always have my eyes.' She was wrong now. I was a monster, a shell of my former self. I wasn't a Purrloin anymore, I was some freak of nature.

Some sort of demon.

"Dawn, you okay?"

Night's voice snapped me back into reality. His red eyes were glowing in the darkness and slightly illuminated his face. His eyes were red, but they weren't cold or evil looking. They had a look of quiet compassion and care behind them, like he felt for those around him. I managed to smile and say "Yeah... I'll be fine."

"Do you feel normal?" asked Pyro "You know, besides the eyes?"

I nodded "Yes, I feel perfectly normal... maybe a little woozy but nothing besides that."

Just after I finished talking another explosion cracked, this one closer than the last. The shock-wave almost made us fall down it was so strong. My heart started to beat faster as I heard screams from a distance.

"Holy Mew was that one closer?" yelled Night, he seemed just as scared as I was.

Pyro on the other hand kept his head and calmly said "It was, somethings up. Some group or something must be working their way through the place. This has never happened before."

"Well, as long as they are against Galactic they're my friends." said Night.

I shook my head "I wouldn't jump to conclusions Night, they might be Team Rocket."

* * *

"Holy mother of Mew that was a big one." spoke Jolt as we made our way into the cave "What the hell is goin' on?"

"I don't know buddy, but it doesn't sound good for Team Galactic." replied Spark with a smirk.

"Well whatever it is it's going to help us get through the base easier so I'm glad with it." I said getting into the conversation. Inside the cave just a few meters back there was a small hatch. I smirked, this was just what I was looking for.

"Okay guys, time to start step two." I turned to Ruby "You ready?"

The Vulpix shrugged "When you are, I'm just surprised that the hatch it here just like you said." She puffed a bit of smoke out her nose "Let's get it started.

Ruby walzed over to the hatch and looked it over a sec "Oh yeah this should be a breeze."

I smircked "Good," I turned to Vapor "Are you ready?" I asked her.

"Of course, I'm saving my brother aren't I?" she said before turning to Jolt "Stand back Jolt, I wouldn't want to get you wet."

"Even though I'm sure he wouldn't mind it..." quietly said Razor from next to me. I nudged him a bit to shut him up.

When Vapor was in position Ruby nodded to her before exhaling a wave of fire. The flamethrower slowly forced the metal hatch to melt and more importantly shrink slightly ( When substances are heated they shrink, look it up) The heat was pretty intense but I knew she was almost done. Once the door was almost melted Ruby stopped and stepped back.

This is when Vapor stepped up let loose a strong water gun. Since the metal was already almost a liquid the force of the water attack blasted through the molten metal. And as an added bonus since it was a water attack it cooled down the metal almost instantly. In only 15 seconds the metal hatch was no more and only a hole with a flight of stairs remained.

"That is a pretty small hole there." said Ferne "This must be a Pokemon only entrance."

We made our way down the flight of stairs that only went down a couple of meters. As we got lower and lower the natural light of the sun stopped and the artificial red light of the Asylum started to take over. By the time we reached the last stair we were in the asylum.

The red light was ominous and unnatural as it reflected off the metal walls and floor. It was weirdly almost perfectly quiet besides the sound of far off yelling and walking. We were far away from whatever was going on which would make this whole thing much easier.

Spark walked passed me as he looked around "So this is the asylum... kinda spooky."

"Yeah, it gives creeps. We should get this thing done." said Razor looking around as well.

"Okay, step two is done. Time for step three." I spoke turning to look at the whole group "We need to find Night."

Just as I finished speaking another explosion boomed in the distance, except this one was a little closer. I couldn't help but wonder if those explosions were the result of a Team Rocket assault. I had just told two confirmed Team Rocket members the location of this place... but it was unlikely that they would be able to organize a mission like this in such a short amount of time. I shook the thought from my head and refocused on the task at hand.

"So um... how are we supposed to find Night?" asked Jolt "This place is huge."

"Hopefully we can find a map, I'm not to educated on the layout." I replied as I contemplated where Galactic may keep a map. It wasn't in Galactic's style to keep maps but I knew this base had one. All I had to do was find it.

I was just about to say something again before Ferne stopped me "Wait... everyone stop." she said extending a paw. Her ears perked up and she looked down the dimly light corridor "Someone's coming."

Having no idea how she could tell but trusting her I nodded "Okay, then everyone get ready."

Everybody tensed up as the footsteps became more and more audible with each one. The steps sounded as if it was metal that was moving across the floor. And as the target approached we soon realized why.

"What the hell is that?" spoke Ruby as the Pokemon came into view. I knew precisely what it was as before us stood a Bisharp, a Pokemon from Unova. Once the Steel type saw us it stopped and seemed to smirk. The Pokemon had a confidence about it as just the way it stood made it appear to think it was better than us.

"Well, well... look at this. More prisoners trying to escape?" he said with a snide tone "Sorry, but you won't get any help from me... I'm the lone wolf type."

"Don't worry about that douchenozle, we won't stop you." said Razor with a nonchalant tone obviously not to pleased with the Bisharp's first impression

I rolled my eyes at the Bulbasaur and said "Don't worry about him... did you say you were an escaped prisoner?"

The Bisharp crossed him arms "You know it, the name's Blade. You should get out of here while you still can, this is the perfect time to escape."

"Wait, you're escaping?" asked Vapor before turning to Ferne "I thought you guys said this place had good security?"

I grinned "It does... that means because of whatever is causing those explosions is messing them up." I turned to the Bisharp "You were in the Dark type area Blade?" I asked.

Blade nodded "Yep," he pointed down the hallway he came from "Just a minute's walk down that way pass a bunch of cells. Everyone who made a break for it went the other way, but I'm lone wolf so-"

"Yeah that's great buddy" interrupted Ruby walking past the Steel type "So if I'm right Night should be just down there." she said pointing down the hallway.

I being a bit more polite than Ruby I nodded at the Bisharp and thanked him for the information. He shrugged and simply walked past us without even replying to me.

"Is my brother down there Dexter?" asked Vapor with a bit of hope in her voice. I smiled at her and nodded.

"Yep, he should be just down there." I replied to her before looking down the long hallway " Time to get this done.


	52. The Asylum: The Breakout Part 3

Okay here we have a new chapter for you. The Asylum story arc is very, very close to ending so as a little story advancing treat I've added a little something at the end of this chapter. Still the same question as last time.

If Night had to choose out of these characters which one to live who do you think he would choose? Ruby, Dawn, or Ferne? This is still on my profile so vote it up!

* * *

_'One second Ruby's worried about you and wondering if you're safe and the next she wants nothing to do with you. I can understand that, she's somewhat bipolar.'_

_Razor, Chapter 32 Night with Razor_

* * *

"So Dexter, how do you know so much about this place?" I asked as I walked next to the Espeon. So far his granddaddy plan had worked almost perfectly. He had predicted every problem that we had faced and got through it without missing a beat. I hadn't known Dexter for to long and I had no idea who he really was but it seemed truly suspicious that a Pokemon supposedly from Kanto knew so much about a Sinnoh organization.

Without stopping to look at me the Espeon replied with "I've read a lot of minds in my day Ruby and when you've scanned so many thoughts the important ones stick out. Team Galactic was a name that caught my attention and for the past year or so I've been gathering information on them. Simple as that."

I raised a brow in confusion "So you've just had this information and just stored it up so you could attack them?"

Dexter smirked and shook his read before responding "No, I just had it and if it ever became useful I would use it. Sort of like how humans learn things in school. You learn those things in the past so that when you need them they can be of use for you" He turned his head for a moment to look at me "Get it?"

"Yeah I think I do..." I said fairly certain that Dexter wasn't telling the whole truth, but I just didn't have the energy to full out interrogate him. I could but it would cause a scene in the middle of some Team Galactic base underground.

In the silence that followed I let my mind wonder and thoughts of Night came to my mind. Why was I letting that idiot Umbreon get to me. He was a douche, a jerk that pried into my personal business and then after all that spits out the crappiest apology I had ever seen. That ignorant stupid, stupid Umbreon then gets the nerve to get himself captured by some organization from Sinnoh and forces us to do this operation thing? What a selfish piece of smut... but despite all this I was still worried about him. How though... how had Night gotten to me like that? I couldn't figure it out.

"Rubes, you okay?" asked Razor snapping me out of my thoughts. The Bulbasaur smiled at me and and spoke again "Ruby, are you alright?"

I blinked hard before replying "Yeah, thanks I'm fine." It was a lie but I was hoping Razor wouldn't be able to tell. Unfortunately for me, Razor had known me since I was a child and knew when something was up. Just from the look of sympathy on his face I saw he felt I was lying but in the current situation he wasn't about to have a heart to heart talk.

Heaving a sigh he gave a reassuring smile and said "Okay then, just try to keep your head on. Last thing I need to save your ass too."

"You won't need to worry about me Raze, by now you should know I'm a girl who can take care of herself." I responded and cut off the conversation.

Almost the literal instant I finished talking a intense and loud crack that sounded like thunder erupted from a wall near our group. The metal walls that surrounded us vibrated with the explosive force of the blast. Hot shrapnel sprayed out of the destroyed wall as screams erupted from our group. The moment the terror began all the dim red lights that barley light the hallway were instantly cut off and darkness filled the area. I'm not a person that's easy to scare, but that terrified me.

After about ten seconds the fear had calmed down and I heard Ferne shout "Is everyone okay!" even a tone of worry was found in her voice.

Heavily breathing Vapor said "I-I'm fine." Soon after that Jolt spoke with "Me as well."

"I'm good, a little shaken up but fine" said Spark as I saw his form rise in the darkness.

"Ruby, you okay?" asked Razor who was still right next to me. I allowed myself to smile in the darkness, always looking out for me...

" Don't worry about me," I said "I'll be fine."

Heavy, intense breathing was coming from where Dexter was standing before the explosion and the power outage. Out of a little bit of concern for him and his well being I said "Dexter, you okay?"

My comment only seemed to make his breathing heavier. I couldn't see him too well, but I could see that his form was leaning on a wall gripping his flank with both paws. Painful coughs emitted from him as a groan found its way into his voice.

"Dexter, what's wrong?" asked Ferne with a little bit of worry in her voice. Even through the dense darkness I could sense the connection between her and Dexter.

"I...I'm fine, don't worry." spoke Dexter in a weak tone "It's just a little flesh wound."

Ferne placed a paw where the Espeon's paws were and gasped "Your bleeding!"

He sighed, his heavy breathing had stopped and returned to normal "It's nothing."

"Bull-crap it's nothing, we need to find you a first aid kit or something." responded Ferne "Your gonna bleed out!"

Dexter started to say something, but in the middle of his thought he must of realized that it was useless to go against the determined Leafeon. The Espeon leaned back in the cold wall and sighed "Fine, if it makes you feel better you can bandage me up. But I'm telling you this is a waste of time."

"I don't know Dex." said Spark entering the conversation "If you're bleeding that's nothing to ignore. If we need to waste some time to get you aid that's no problem."

Spark... why the hell is he so nice. It made no sense to me. Yeah I guess he was just being courteous but it seemed like if someone came up to him and stabbed him in the gut he would simply smile and forgive the person. He was too nice, and I hoped that someday that wouldn't be his downfall.

All of a sudden the red lights came back to life and illuminated the hall. When everyone looked to see Dexter's condition there was complete silence. Thick red blood dripped down to the floor. Dexter was grasping his open wound with both paws was doing very little to stop the bleeding. He winced and said with a weak smile "What, does it look bad?"

It didn't look to good. The gash looked about an inch deep and went across his side and was bleeding a good amount of blood.

"Alright, that's it. We're putting this mission on hold for a sec, we've gotta find some medical help for Dexter." said Ferne now more determined than before.

_'Sorry Night, you asshole'' _I thought _'Your rescue'll be on hold for a little longer.'_

* * *

"Okay, now I'm freaking out. That one was super close." Now I was officially scared out of my mind. That last explosion was so strong it knocked me off my feet, they were getting closer. What was going on?

Throughout my freak out Pyro simply stood there in deep thought and stared at the door. By now I was used to this, that was what he did.

"Night, are you okay?" asked Dawn with a concerned voice.

I forced a smile "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks... but I'm a little worried about if we'll be okay after the next explosion. Maybe Team Galactic is testing us or something."

"No," interrupted Pyro out of his silent thought "This is not Galactic's work. They haven't fed us in a long time, even they aren't that cruel." stated the Houndour "This is something bigger than them."

Just after he stopped talking a scream of pain erupted from outside the door " Stop!... No!"

"Calm down, you're gonna bleed to death." said a different voice.

"No!, No!... I don't believe you. **You lie!**"

The voice seemed a little familiar but I couldn't tell who the user was. My heart started to race however, whatever was going on outside didn't sound too good.

Then the door that held us in this dark void of a room started to bang and bang hard. Dust and pieces of metal started to fall from the walls and the pounds grew stronger and stronger.

"Oh my god." said Dawn with sudden realization "That voice... it's the Tyranitar!"

I felt my blood run cold as I recognized the voice, it was the Tyranitar that had been attacked by Steel. What was he doing?

With one more mighty yell and a loud thud the door, that thick metal door was flung open from the force of the hit. As that familiar red light flooded the once dark room the figure of the large Tyranitar collapsed on the ground. Once I laid eyes on him I could see why the guards had wanted him to calm down. Cuts and scratches were etched all over his body, blood dripping from every single one. His broken arm had broken out of it's cast and was just hanging there looking very unnatural. Groans of agony echoed throughout the room and even the guards didn't expect what would happen next.

The look in Pyro's eyes was evident of what he was thinking. His usual cold and distant eyes erupted with emotion as he thought about one thing.

Escape.

Without a moment's hesitation the Houndour sprung into action. The two guards, a Poochyena and a Shinx, had no idea what hit them. After only two bite attacks both Pokemon lay unconscious in a pile. They didn't even know what hit them.

"Whoa, Pyro... where did that come from?" I asked a little terrified by the canine's sudden display of power.

He stood up and turned his face to look at both Dawn and I and allowed a smile to find it's way onto his usually emotionless face. "Sorry for that, but this is the first real moment I'm getting to escape. And I'm gonna jump on it."

* * *

"Dexter, stay focused." I said in a slightly panicked voice not wanting the Espeon to bleed out in front of me. I used my vines to wrap around the Pokemon's side to try and stop the bleeding. The last thing I needed to happen was to have Dexter die in front of me.

"You know, I could just burn the wound and stop the bleeding." spoke Ruby with a calm voice. She was the only one that hadn't gone to look for medical supplies.

Her comment was met with resistance from Dexter himself "No no, I'll last until they come back... but they better soon." He was right too, there was a lot of blood on the ground now and the Espeon was almost surrounded by his own blood. Things were not looking very good.

Little did I know things were going to get much worse.

From down the dimly light hallway I could hear the patter of small feet making their way in our direction. At first I thought nothing of it as my mind was occupied at the moment. As it got closer my heart-beat started to rise but my mind still stayed focused on stopping Dexter's bleeding.

All of a sudden the sound stopped and I felt a feeling of relief set in, but that feeling was very short lived.

"Um, Raze... we have a visitor." said Ruby in an assertive voice. I glanced over to see what she was talking about only to see a Pokemon I had never seen before. Standing about 8 feet from us stood a small bug type. It was only about a foot tall but had a fierce, yet calm look in it's eye. The Pokemon was purplish pink color and appeared to be scanning us as we examined it.

The bug glanced over at Dexter and her expression lightened up "Requiem... I never thought I'd see you again." her voice had a slight hint of disgust behind the surprise. She knew Dexter by his old name, she must have been some sort of old friend.

Dexter himself almost jumped when he saw the bug and his breathing increased. He let loose a raspy cough and clutched his side tight as he let loose a quiet swear. "What are you doing here Vernai?" he spoke in a angry voice.

Vernai raised her head and smirked "What, not happy to see me? And after all this time. Unfortunate we couldn't meet on friendlier terms, but I'm going to need you and your little friends to leave. We've had a little security breach and I really am not in the mood to fight you too."

Crap, she wanted us out. From the look on Dexter's face this Pokemon was no laughing matter, she was a pro. Then I started to think... why would she tell us to leave? Ruby and I could easily take her on two versus one. Rubes was a fire type and I being half poison didn't take too much damage to bug type moves.

I was about to say something when Ruby stole the words right out of my mouth "Look lady, I don't care what kind of fighter you are. We are here to get some business done and if you don't let us go we might have to get violent." Ruby smirked "Now make your choice bug."

Vernai looked completely unfazed by Ruby's comment and simply sighed and said "Fine. Have it your way."

She calmly started to back away, maybe the threat had scared her away. Maybe we wouldn't have to fight her. I let myself sigh in relief and smile "Thank you fo-"

Before I could even finish a high pitched screech filled the air. My ear drums ringed from the sensation and I felt my limps grow weak as the sound seemed to get louder and louder. Ruby, who was next to me, started to stagger from the intense sound. My vision even started to fade and I started to scream in agony as the sound started to physically hurt.

Then, thank Arceus, the dreadful sound stopped and I was able to regain my senses, or at least try to.

"Ruby, move!" yelled Dexter from the sidelines with urgency.

"What?" spoke the Vulpix, but it was way to late. Vernai had rolled herself up into a ball and was rolling at Ruby with incredible speed for her body shape. With a loud crack the bug collided with Ruby and sent her flying down the hall. Before her body could even hit the ground the speedy insect had turned herself around and rolled into Ruby again. Ruby was sent straight up into the ceiling and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Crap, Ruby are you o-" I was stopped by the force of Vernai's body hitting me, still in that rolled up ball. I fell to the ground as I felt my side swell up and start to bruise. Grasping my side with one paw and standing back up with the other three I looked around for where the hostile Pokemon was going to attack from next.

Luckily for me I saw Vernai standing only a few feet from me with a very calm expression, like she hadn't just beat the hell out of us. "Leave before I have to hurt you more."

Ruby spat out some saliva out of her mouth "What, you expect us to surrender after that? Fat chance Verny." responded Ruby saying her name wrong.

With that my Vulpix comrade let loose a flamethrower without any warning. Being half plant I made it my duty to avoid getting toasted by the sudden attack and stepped back. I couldn't even see Vernai's figure move as the attack came at her. The flames engulfed her form with a terrible roar of fire. In the flames I could see her body smolder and burn in the heat. Her form started to get smaller and seem to melt a bit. Ruby was killing her right in front of me and all I could do was watch in silent terror.

"Wait Ruby stop!" yelled Dexter frantically "You're killing her!"

The fox closed her mouth and cut off the flame's source of power and looked at the damage she caused. Vernai's body, if you could even call it that, was just a darkened smudge of ash on the ground that had been melted down. There wasn't even any evidence that there was a Pokemon there.

"Crap Ruby, was that necessarily?" I yelled with a hint of anger behind my voice "You just burnt her to a crisp!"

Ruby's eyes went wide as she realized just what she had done. Her legs started to shake and she started to walk towards the burnt corpse. "Wh-... how did this happen? Why didn't you move you idiot!" She was angry, very angry. This is how she dealt with depression and guilt, by blaming it on someone else. She wasn't one to sit in a corner and cry about it , even it she had done something wrong.

"Ruby, above you!" cried out Dexter from the sidelines. Ruby looked up just in time to get hit hard by a poison tail attack. She screamed in what sounded like a mixture of fear and pain as the attack hit her. It all happened in a blur, but Ruby fell limp to the ground after all was said and done. Standing over her motionless form was Vernai, completely burn free with that same calm look on her face.

"What... how did you..." I stammered trying to figure out the Venipede seemed to come back from the dead. There was no doubt her body had been burnt to a crisp right in front of me.

"Last chance Bulbasaur, give up or end up like your friend here. She's lucky I didn't go full force with that attack. Instead of having a concussion and two poisoned scratched in her check she could be bleeding out with her jugular sliced. I don't like killing but I will detain you if you do not surrender right now." said Vernai with a serious tone.

I was stuck, what could I do. She looked liked she was a bug poison type and me being half poison she wouldn't be able to infect me. But that bug half of her could do some damage to the grass half of me. On top of it she just decked Ruby and survived that flamethrower. Dexter couldn't fight, he had to focus on not bleeding to death. There was nothing I could do by myself, I had to surrender.

I was about to give in and surrender but before I could open my mouth Vernai put a stubby arm up to where her ears would be "What am I doing? I'm engaging a few hostiles that have attacked." She pause for a moment and continued " A Vulpix, Requiem and a Bulbasaur... Yes, the Requiem. Abort? Sir with all due respect I- but haven't we been trying to find him for so long and he's right here and injured. " Another pause "A direct order from Cyrus you said... understood sir."

It took me a bit, but I realized she was talking to her superior through some type of ear piece. The bug sighed and looked at me with just a smidgen of anger in her eyes and said "I can't touch you anymore. Direct order but I still suggest you get your friends and leave. Things are getting crazy around here" she looked over at Dexter and nodded "I'm sorry we couldn't talk more Requiem, it seems your freedom has been extended."

"Freedom... what is she talking about Dexter?" I asked.

"None of your business, the less you know the better." he said in a dark foreboding tone. "Just be happy she didn't kill Ruby, she easily could have." He was hiding things again, but at that moment I didn't think finding out about his past was urgent.

"Fine" I said curtly and looked back at Vernai who was already making her way down the dark hallway. I felt my heart sink as I realized what a weakling I had just been. I had just let Ruby get beaten and knocked out by that Pokemon and did nothing to stop it. I didn't run to the rescue or even launch an attack on Vernai. I just stood there, paralyzed by my fear and did nothing.

Nothing.

* * *

Ah Vermilion city, what an absolutely outstanding place to live. Such a nice sea town with kind people. The world seemed so much more pure here and nothing was fake. Life here was so cleansing and in my line of work a little bit of good karma goes a long way.

Looking out on the city from my high-rise balcony I felt a calm solitude come over me. The wind blowing past bringing the salty scent of the sea with it while people below went about their morning routine. Children going to school or playing with their Pokemon in the parks and sidewalks without a care in the world. It was a sight that brought warmth to me.

Oh, forgive me. I've been running my mouth without even introducing myself. I am Scarlet, one of the most well known Pokemon in Vermilion. I am a Ponyta, but not just a normal one. I am what humans would call a 'shiny' Ponyta. Blue flames jutted down my head and back and blew in the wind. Seeing that I was in a private setting and not being watched by the public I wasn't wearing my usual clothing. I simply wore a simple but elegant fire proof silk robe. Most Pokemon find the idea of wearing clothing repulsive, I find it comfortable.

"Breaking new from Cerulean city! Smoke and explosions sighted just outside the city in a forest!" sounded the television from behind me. "Reporters on the scene have said that Pokemon in poor health have been spotted in the area. We will bring you more information as it becomes available."

I couldn't help but smile at the report. Team Galactic's Asylum was going under fast and there was nothing they could do about it. I guess the intel I gave Team Rocket had gone to work.

"Are you happy now?" spoke a very familiar voice. Not even needing to turn my head to know who the speaker was.

"Napoleon, I don't remember you asking to come over." I said in a defined voice "Although it is outstanding to see you darling."

The Snivy was leaning on a wall in my penthouse, my beautifully decorated penthouse. He was wearing his standard gray oxford shirt and black tie and looked very well primed. His expression was one on anger however and as he spoke I saw why he was less than happy. "Scarlet, I know you're behind this Asylum thing."

I smiled and approached him with a calm elegance "Napoleon my dear, you know the line of work I'm in and you know the terrible things they do there. I did it for... the greater good."

"I don't care why you did it, you must realize how dangerous it is doing what you are doing. One day you work for the Rockets and the next you're Galactic's pawn... it's dangerous to play both sides like this." he pause for a moment and looked down "I'm worried about you."

Oh Napoleon, such an interesting Snivy. He was concerned about me like he always was. I took a hoof and raised his chin to look into his deep red eyes "Don't worry about me Napoleon, I am a girl that can handle myself okay?"

He sighed and placed his hands on his hips "Say what you want Scarlet... just take care of yourself." he looked out onto the balcony and frowned "The last thing I need is something else to fret about."

* * *

Brownie points to whoever can figure out what two moves Vernai did to escape Ruby's flamethrower.


	53. The Asylum: The Breakout Part 4

Sorry for the not so long chapter this time, I just couldn't see what else I could jam into this one without messing up with my story structuring.

Anyway, I elaborate a little bit more on some other characters you have met before and I think that's a nice little thing. New question for you this time too! This one will also be asked on a later date once more information has been revealed

Do you think Scarlet is a good person? Like always this will also be on my profile. Enjoy!

* * *

"Oh my gosh! What happened?" exclaimed Vapor as she checked me for injuries. It had only been a few minutes after Vernai had left me with Dexter and Ruby. I did my best to take care of both of them, but I didn't know much about how to keep a bleeding Espeon conscious and an unconscious Vulpix from getting any worse. To say the least I managed to keep Dexter in the game and simply propped Ruby's unconscious form against a wall.

"I'm fine, I'm fine... did you find any medical stuff?" I asked back.

Ferne had first-aid kit in her mouth and answered my question in silence as she rushed over to Dexter. The Espeon was holding on to his side tight. The bleeding had slowed down, but with all the red liquid surrounding him I was amazed he wasn't dead. He once pristine pink fur was now matted and wet with blood below the gash. The gem on his head flashed with energy as he sloshed around in his own blood. It wasn't a pretty sight, but he had been bleeding for some time now and looked an absolute mess.

"How are holding up, Requ- Dexter." stuttered Ferne as she corrected herself.

Dexter gave an uneasy sigh "I don't know Jane ..." replied the Espeon saying Ferne's other name "... maybe if I lose more blood I'll be able to give you a more accurate medical assessment." His voice was uncharacteristically rough and angry.

The Leafeon completely ignored Dexter and went on with bandaging him up. She looked over to Spark and said "Hey, can you help me out seeing that you are the only one here with thumbs."

The Pikachu smiled and happily said "Of course," he paced over to her "What do you need?"

"What do you think she needs?" said Dexter in a sarcastic voice between huffs "She needs you to keep me from dying!" The Espeon was losing his patience fast, most likely from the intense blood loss. They needed to fix him up fast.

"Alright," said Ferne "Vapor can you come over here and clean the wound?"

Vapor looked very worried at what was going on and looked away "I... I wouldn't want to mess anything up. I'm not sure..."

Jolt, who was standing right next to her, gasped her chin and softly said to her "You can do it Vapor, just give it a try." He said those words with such quiet confidence, like he actually thought they were true.

Vapor's usually cold and lifeless eyes light up and she let a small smile work it's way onto her face "You're right... I can do this."

I found it amazing how little confidence the Vaporeon had in herself. All she was asked to do was wash Dex's wound and she got worried that she would mess up that, the most simplest of tasks. It was the first time I really saw her confidence problem, and the first time I saw how much Jolt seemed to already know her enough to get her to act.

Vapor gently washed away the blood and dirt on Dexter's open wound with at weak water gun. Dexter himself winced at the pain it must of caused while Ferne simply nodded. "Thanks" she said before looking over to Spark "Alright Spark, can you help me wrap the bandage around his body?"

Still smiling Spark nodded "Sure." With soft movements the Pikachu slowly, but tightly wrapped the bandage around Dexter's body to cover up the wound. The Espeon was a little twitchy but overall stayed pretty still.

"Thanks Spark, that should hold him until we can get to a Pokemon center." said Ferne before turning to Dexter "How do you feel?"

Dexter coughed and winced "I... I'll be fine. Thanks for patching me up though." He looked down the faintly light Asylum hallway "You guys go on ahead and see if you can find Night, I can stay here until Ruby gains consciousness."

I instantly went against that plan and spoke my mind "Wait wait wait... you expect us to leave you and Ruby by yourselves in this crazy base? I don't think so."

Dexter gave me a perplexed look "What, you don't think I can handle myself?"

"Not quite mate, I think he's sayin' that you're not in the best condition to defend yourself is someone comes along." piped in Jolt supporting my thoughts "I say we all go and find Night."

Dexter obviously wasn't with the plan, but like before I think he realized that fighting it was a waste of time. No matter what he thought we were not just going to leave him behind. The Espeon sighed and said "Fine... I can walk but someone will have to carry Ruby, she isn't in a position to walk herself" He glanced over to the knocked out fox.

"I can carry her." spoke the docile voice of Vapor "It wouldn't be a problem.''

Jolt nodded "Brilliant then, Dex you need help getting back on your feet?"

The Espeon didn't even had to answer as he was already on his feet looking in the direction that we thought Night was in.

"Okay... then we're all set" said Spark with enthusiasm in his voice "Let's find Night."

* * *

"So... I guess you wouldn't know a way out of here would you?" I asked Pyro hoping he would know something about how to get the hell out of this hell hole.

We had just moved the unconscious bodies of the guards into our old cell and were now contemplating what to do next. It was obvious that the Asylum was falling apart. Panicked screams could be heard echoing through the cold hallways and the patter of frantic feet was almost annoying. Chaos was going on and we were going to take advantage of it.

"No... but I do know that there are multiple exits. Over the years I've heard them talk about several ways to get in or out of this place. If we wonder around enough we're bound to get to one." said Pyro with an extremely simple plan.

I had no objections seeing that I wasn't a genius when it came to coming up with plans... even though I easily could if I put my mind to it. Dawn may have had another plan, but she didn't say it if she did. The Purrloin simply nodded and said "I'm fine with that." she looked down a hallway "The faster we can get out of here the better."

"Completely agree" I piped in "Let's get out of here."

Even with the slight feeling of freedom we were granted I still felt anxious walking though the dark halls of the Asylum. The red lights still made me shutter with the intimidation the let off. It felt like something was watching me.

In the background I heard yells and screams still echoing and bouncing off the walls. I couldn't help but wonder about all that was going on. From what I had seen and heard it looked like Team Galactic was losing control of the place and fast. Just a day ago they had this facility on lock-down and now everything was falling apart. I was happy that Galactic was having troubles though, so far almost all of them had treated me like crap. From what I saw in that large area that is how Pokemon had lived for years, and Galactic just kept them there. If Galactic was falling I wasn't about to help them up.

Despite this I still couldn't help worrying a little bit about Mars and Vernai, they didn't seem too bad when I met them. Vernai had stood up and helped out a random Pokemon from getting hurt worse and Mars gave us information we wanted without treating us like trash. One part of me hoped that they made it out okay.

"Do you hear that?" asked Pyro as we walked down the hall, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I shook my head "No... only Galactic falling apart." I added a bit of a chuckle at the end.

"No... footsteps... close ones." responded Pyro. He suddenly stopped and looked around. "Someone's near, Night check behi-"

Before he finished talking I felt a sharp intense pain in the back of my head. I felt myself get forced forward by the sudden attack and hit the metal floor hard. Losing consciousness fast all I heard as I black out was.

"Come on Pyro... you thought I'd let you leave that easy?"

* * *

"So you finally told Team Rocket about the Asylum?" said Napoleon with a smirk across his face. He was reclined in a lounge chair and looking very relaxed "Good, that place needed to get shut-down."

At the moment Napoleon and I were in my penthouse watching the television. The Snivy had gotten his initial wave of concern out of the way and had calmed down a bit. From all the time I had known him he never wasn't worried about me. I'm not sure why but no matter what I was getting involved in he felt it was his duty to watch out for me.

"From what I had heard about that place I felt the need to take action, not to mention that Team Rocket had been badgering me to tell them." I spoke standing next to him. "Plus, I needed a little bit of good karma."

Napoleon laughed a bit before replying "Don't we all Scarlet."

"On this Breaking News we have reporter Ana Williams on the scene, Ana whatdoya got?" spoke the male news anchor with an excited tone. Who wouldn't be excited, this could be the story of the fall.

The news cut to anchor that was in the field. She wore a gray blazer and was completely overdone with make-up. Behind her stood a cave entrance sticking out of a small grass plain. "Hey Matt, we are at the entrance of what looks like a cave... but it is the only entrance to anything in the area." she looked around "As you see there are cracks in the ground and smoke billowing out of them. Whatever is going on here, we will find out for our viewers."

"What outstanding reporting, eh Napoleon?" I said in a sarcastic tone.

The Snivy shrugged "I guess... but seriously Scarlet, I'm worried about you."

I sighed, again he was getting on me for this. It was like he didn't think I could take care of myself and my choices for me. "Napoleon darling, there is no need for you to spend so much time worrying about me." I did my best to keep my slight anger under-wraps, I am a lady after all.

The distressed snake jumped out of the lounge chair and turned to me "Yes there is Scarlet, if these guys turn on you things could get very dangerous very quick. The last thing you need is Team Galactic and Team Rocket vying for your head."

My temper had overcome my self control, but I still kept a calm tone as I said "What, like what they're doing to you Napoleon?"

His fists and face tightened and he looked away "That's not the same. Galactic and Rocket are spying on me, they think I don't know but I know. They have a group of low level grunt on my trail. The most I need to worry about is a squad of novices wasting my time with a two minute battle. If even one of these Teams turns on you an tells the other you will have Claire and White knocking on your door. White may me more reasonable, but Claire almost always goes for blood." replied Napoleon "That is why I'm scared for you Scarlet, you know I lo-... care about you... like a sister."

I was a bit surprised at that slip Napoleon had, letting loose his actual deep seeded emotions like that was something that was very uncommon for him. "I understand your good intentions Napoleon and they are noted, but you need to get this though your adorable little head dear. I a Ponyta that can take care of herself, okay."

Napoleon sighed, obviously not satisfyed with the responce I gave him and said dismisivly "Fine, live your life how you want to. Just know that your choices don't just effect you, they effect your family too."

"I could say the same thing to you." I quickly replied.

Napoleon rolled his eyes "Scarlet you know my family is still in Unova and that they are in no danger. My actions are not hurting Rocket or Galactic, unlike yours." spoke the Snivy "Not to mention we are both very public figures... if anyone wanted anything to happen to you it'd be easy to find you."

"Darling if your trying to scare me it's not working-"

"I'm not trying to scare you, I'm just scared for you."

I was done, Napoleon was just talking now. I gritted my teeth a bit before saying in an angry tone "You know what Napoleon, I like you. You know I like you, but I need to know if you're just going to grill me for my choices. Because if you are you might as well just leave."

Napoleon sighed "Fine Scarlet, have it your way. I'm leaving, but think about what I've said okay."

"I will, just leave okay dear." I replied looking out to the balcony "I have some calls to make."


	54. The Asylum: The Breakout Part 5

Hello everybody. I'm sorry about the half a month's wait but on the bright side we are nearing the very end of the Asylum. And to celebrate this I would like to ask another question.

Out of these characters which two do you have the most interest in?

Azelf, Arceus, Napoleon, Scarlet, Black, Claire, and Darkrai . Just like always this will be on my profile.

* * *

_"How's about you take me on...or, are you scared?" Night, chapter 46_

* * *

"Steel..."

Was all Pyro said as he turned to see Night's attacker, the Lucario from earlier. He looked more angry than he was before with his eyes glowing in the dim red light and more banged up. He had several superficial cuts on his body, the worst being a slash across his right shoulder and looked fatigued. Under his foot was the unconscious body of Night, who didn't seem to even react before he fell. Hot steam came out of the Lucario's mouth with every breath as a sickening smile made it's way onto the canine's teeth.

"Sorry about the Umbreon here, just needed to pay him back for that little bruise he gave me yesterday." spoke Steel with a terrifying tone behind his voice. "Now, onto business."

The Lucario kicked Night's body to the side with a swift kick "Pyro your escape attempt has failed, surrender right now."

I looked down at Night and silently hoped he was okay. I know I had only known the Umbreon for a grand total of a day or two maybe, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He was arrogant, but not in a mean way. He stood up for me when no one else would and was willing to fight a battle he knew he couldn't win just to protect me. He had a sense of heroism, a little bit of valor. He had saved me...

The least I could do is try and return the favor.

I felt a surge of unbearable anger within me, I had never felt to inclined to do something before. I gave a deep breath and said "Don't kick him."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Pyro grow worried for me "Shut up Dawn, just do what he says."

"Control your puppet Pyro, or she might end up splattered on a wall." spoke Steel with a cold sneer on his face "Understand?

"Listen to him Dawn you don't know what-"

"I don't care what you think he can do." I said, drawing from this new source of energy within me "Don't make excuses for me," I looked over at Steel "Just leave us alone, you are outnumbered and injured."

"You think that means anything, surrender now or I won't hesitate you terminate you with... extreme prejudice. " replied the steel typed canine clenching his fists. "Make your choice Purloin."

In a surge of angry speed I made my move. With quick efficiency I used a Pursuit and surprised the Lucario. He was hit in the gut and staggered back as I regained my balance and looked to him as he looked at me. His stone cold red eyes met mine as he snarled and showed her teeth. A few feet from me stood Pyro, completely amazed that I had gathered the guts to attack Steel.

"How _dare _you attack me!" yelled Steel as steam puffed out of his nose. He tightened his fists "That's the last time you'll ever get to move Purrloin, I hope you enjoyed it!"

The Lucario charged me with ungodly speed "You're done!"

My heart was beating out of my chest as he swung at me with his claws bared. Out of pure fear I closed my eyes and awaited death... it's not like I had anything to live for anyway. But the think is, nothing happened. I sat there frozen in fear with my eyes closed for what felt like a few seconds... but nothing happened. When I opened my eyes I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

It was Steel without a doubt in mid-attack with a slash attack, but he was moving in slow motion. His eyes were focused right on me, mouth wide open showing vicious sharp teeth, but he was moving very slow.

My instincts kicked in and I ducked as time seemed to speed up again. I felt a fast movement in the air above me as I looked up, I had just dodged it without even realizing it.

Another swipe and time slowed again for me and once again I simply moved out of the way and let the canine hit the ground. Scratching the ground with his claws the Lucario made a fist with his other paw and went for me again. This time I not only dodged hit attack but I countered with a well placed Hidden Power. What followed next I did not expect at all.

The literal instant my paw connected with his face time sped up again and Steel was sent flying into the hard metal floor. A dull thud filled the halls as Steel groaned a bit before forcing himself up. I couldn't believe that I had just done that... and with a move like that to a fighting type. It didn't make sense, I wasn't that strong, I wasn't that fast. _'What's going on?'_

The Team Galactic Lucario wiped the spit from his mouth and growled "You... the experiment must of done something to you." he grasped his weak arm " Can't believe this."

My heart skipped a beat when the canine finished talking. It made sense, my eyes had changes so what else could have changed? I felt different, like I was capable of more. I was without a doubt faster to whatever Galactic did to me. Suddenly my confidence rose and I let myself smirk a little. If I had just did that to him with a half arsed Hidden power I could only imagine the kind of damage a full out attack would do.

Steel must of seen that the tide had been turned and looked over to Pyro "Help me deal with this cat now Pyro."

The Houndour's usually nonchalant face was not nervous and scared. Being in this place had done something to him, something bad. He must have been terrified of Steel, which is why he always listened to him without fail. He looked at me with a look of pity, letting his crimson eyes stare into my red ones.

"I can't do that Steel..."

"What!" exploded Steel in a burst of fury "You will obey me this instant!"

Pyro's expression instantly changed as a deep frown appeared on his face "No... do you know all the terrible things I've seen and done while living here. You had me enslaved, mind and body I was under _your _control. Well I'm done being your pawn, I'm done fighting for you." smoke puffed out of the fire-type's nose "You are not my master anymore."

I took this opportunity to strike again. Going all out I went as fast as I could and just like before time seemed to slow down from the intense speed I was enduring. I swiped at the Lucario with a shadow claw across the face. It it him hard, but this time everything speed up faster than expected. Steel quickly rebounded from my attack and slugged me across the face.

Falling to the ground I let my slightly bloated ego go down. I wasn't invincible. I was fast now, but I still couldn't stop time. Not to mention that I was now fatigued after moving at that speed. I had to control myself before I fainted from exhaustion.

Just as Steel hit me Pyro seemed to simply breath out a dark purple gas that engulfed the Lucario in a sickening haze. Coughing and wheezing Steel charged up some aura and randomly started to shoot out, what seemed to be an aura sphere. Suddenly I realized what he was doing, that attack almost never misses. It being a fighting move and both Pyro and I being dark types that attack was a heat seeking missile.

In an instant the attack devastated Pyro with a solid thud. The dog yelped as he was flung into a wall by the attack, hitting it with a loud pang. Looking back to see if he was okay I was punished by a hard punch across the jaw. Badly disoriented and pained by the punch I couldn't dodge the second punch that hit me square in the gut. With another punch he hit me in the same spot, then again, and again. Before 5 seconds had passed the Lucario had hit me 15 times in the gut. Unable to withstand the pain I collapsed feeling like he had pulverized my organs.

I hit the ground and cringed as I grasped my stomach in hopes to stop the pain. I felt like everything inside me was broken. Without a doubt I was bleeding in there, I could feel fluid in places that it didn't belong. I started a coughing fit and spat up a bit of the red liquid which confirmed my fear that I was hurt bad. I almost couldn't stand the agony as Steel looked down on me.

"You really shouldn't of tested me Purrloin, I really don't want to kill you." he said with a chuckle "If you give up right now I will let you live, but fight back and this facility will be your grave."

I felt hot tears finding their way to my eyes. I had reached the breaking point, mentally and physically. My body was near-broken and my once beaming confidence was less than before. I was done.

"You really think I'm just going to let her give up?" said Pyro's voice. I forced myself to turn my head to see him getting up from that Aura Sphere attack. He looked almost as bad as I did with droplets of blood dripping from a few cuts and his mouth. He also appeared to have injured a hind leg, as it looked as if it was supporting less weight. "Just rest Dawn, this is going to be me and him."

Steel gave a deep frown as he turned his attention away from me and to the Houndour. Despite his tightened expression a large grin found itself on his face. "Alright then Pyro... come at me at all you got."

* * *

"What the hell is going on here!" I yelled out of fury at my current situation. I couldn't explain it too well, but all I knew was that I had been hit by something and blacked out. When I woke up I was in a field of fire-red grass that seemed to stretch on forever. In fact, it almost reminded me of my Poke-ball but everything was real. The grass had that fresh scent and the winds carried a calming breeze around.

"That little bug must've tricked me... little bitch." I said to myself "But why am I in a Poke ball?"

"You're not." spoke a calm, male sounding voice. It had a young, but wise tone to it as it echoed through the flat plain. I was freaked out for a little bit seeing that more than one Pokemon couldn't be in the same Poke ball at once. Looking around all I could see is the red grass and the purplish sky go on forever.

"Who said that, and what do you want?" I demanded to the mysterious voice.

"Wow, she really is something else..." said the same voice from before, but it was obvious he was talking to someone else.

"What, did you think I was lying?" said a new voice that was also male and also sounded young and wise.

"Who is that!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and let a puff of smoke out of my nose "Tell me right now!"

"Calm down, calm down... we mean no harm to you Ruby." said the first voice.

A cold chill ran down my spine _'How do they know my names?'_

"How's about you turn around and that should answer a few questions."

Quickly I turned, expecting some stupid hallucination or something. But what I saw was nothing but. Before me stood two small Pokemon that were about 2 or 3 feet tall. One I instantly recognized with it's signature pink fur and cat-like figure. He stood on the ground with his dainty paws on either hip and wore a snarky smile on his face. His famous blue eyes pierced me as I felt him look into my soul. Before me stood one of the original legendary Pokemon.

Before me stood Mew.

For what seemed like and eternity I simply stood there looking at him with my mouth gaping open like an idiot. This was Kanto's star, the Pokemon of all Pokemon and he was standing before me.

"Um... hello?" spoke the other Pokemon snapping me back into the moment. I looked over to him and he looked like a bootleg Mew. He was about the same size, but was just blue, had some weird helmet with a stupid jewel in it and 3 tails. Besides that he was Mew and looked like a idiot standing next to the first legendary.

I looked back at Mew and let myself go, after all if Mew had come to speak with me I doubt he'd want me to not act like myself "So, what do you Mew?"

The Pink Feline blinked with surprise "That's the first time someone's said that to me... interesting." said Mew with a smirk "I guess there is a need to introduce my friend here."

"No wait, Ruby you know me right?" said the bootleg Mew with a pleading tone "I'm pretty famous in Sinnoh."

I quickly responded "Nope, I have no idea who you are. To me you just look like a really bad Mew costume gone terribly wrong."

The Blue Pokemon crossed his arms "I'm Azelf," he said while gritting his teeth "Good to meet you too."

Mew chuckled for a bit at my remark before continuing "Well Ruby, I'm sure you're wondering why we are here and I think we should get straight to the point."

I hid my massive excitement as and nodded and replied with "Okay, shoot."

* * *

"Vapor, you need any help there love?" asked Jolt with is British tint. I let myself blush a bit but stayed calm. We had been walking for only a couple of minutes but everything still looked the same. The dull and lifeless walls echoed with the sounds of battles and screams as we made our way deeper and deeper into the underground building

"Love?" I responded , wondering what he met.

The Jolteon blushed so bad it showed through his fur "Oh nothing miss, just how I talk."

"You've never called me love before" piped in Spark out of nowhere "And we've known each other our whole lives."

Jolt was an interesting Pokemon. He was nice, really ,really nice. He was without a doubt flirting with me all the time and every now and then I would humor him and sometimes I would reject it. Jolt was just moving to fast for my liking... we had known each other for only five days after all.

"Leave him alone Spark, he's just being a gentlemen" I looked at him "Thanks but no, I've got her." I had been carrying Ruby on my back for some time now, but she was very light so it was no problem.

Suddenly I felt a sadness fall over me, like flash flood I just felt terrible inside. It would happen all the time, these surges of depression. Ever since I had left home I would constantly recall my family and what they were up to, if they were okay. Do they worry about me now that I'm gone, or do they just not care? What about Night? Is he okay, is he dea-

I stopped myself, I couldn't imagine that. Night was fine, we were going to find him and get him out of here. As I thought about seeing him okay again I regained control of my emotions and got back to the task at hand.

"How much longer until you think we get to Night Dexter?" asked Razor with a very slight tone of worry in his voice.

"Not sure..." spoke Dexter, still cringing a bit from his now wrapped up wound "Hopefully soon, I can't walk too long with this."

"Oh stop whining Dexter." said Ferne with an insulting tone "I got stabbed yesterday and look at me, I'm fine."

I was shocked at this statement, she seemed so calm about saying she had been injured just the day before "Are you okay?" I asked in an extremely concerned voice.

She turned to me and let a little smile on her face as she said "Yeah, yeah I'm fine" she pointed to a stitching on her side "Did it myself too."

Almost throwing up at the mental image I managed to keep my lunch, but some of us came a little close.

"You're joking." said Razor after a hard gag "You just stitched yourself up, didn't it hurt?"

The leafeon shrugged "I guess, but it was only a little bloody."

"You've always been the commando type haven't you Jane?" said Dexter with a little smirk "But enough distractions, Night won't find himself."

"... You can't win Pyro..."

I perked my ears up and looked around "Did you guys hear that?"

Jolt nodded "I think, was that a Pokemon?"

We all were silent for a moment and awaited another sound. In the silence I could hear the walls of the Asylum literally creaking and water dripping from the ceiling. The patter of feet was still evident, but after a moment of standing there I started to look around.

Dexter's ears perked up and looked down the hallway we were already walking down. The look in his eyes burned with spicy ambition, something that I hadn't seen in him yet. To my side was Jolt and despite his black eyes his eyes showed a strong willed soul, a kind soul. Spark's sweet personally was visible even though the look of thought on his face. Ferne's determination to find Night was obvious as she stood there waiting. Even Razor's goofy eyes had some sign of care for what he was doing. For a second I looked at them and couldn't help but smile. I had only known these people for a week, but they were already Pokemon that cared about me and my brother. They were amazing.

"I'm not... just going to give in, no matter what you do."

"Somethings going down." said Dexter," We should check it out."

* * *

Pyro was losing and losing bad. He had put of a strong fight in the beginning, but as the fight wore on each attack he took killed some of his stamina. By then he was battered and bloody with a black eye and several cuts on his body. On the other hand Steel was barley being effected for the few attacks Pyro managed to get through and was still near top condition.

"...Pyro..." I said in a weak voice as a solid punch hit him in the jaw and sent him to the ground.

"Come on Pyro, this is all you've got?" spoke Steel pacing over to the downed dog "Get up."

Pyro struggled to get to hit feet as the Lucario stood over him. Without mercy he kicked him in the gut. A guttural whelp emitted from the Houndour from the pain he must have been feeling.

"Stop.." I pleaded

Again he kicked him, harder this time.

"Stop... please."

Again he kicked him

"I'm begging you."

Again...

"Stop it..."

...and again.

Without warning the Lucario jutted forward and staggered with a yelp of surprise. With a hot anger fueling him he turned around to face his attacker. To tell you the truth I was just as surprised as he was.

The attacker's black fur was tinted with the red light of the asylum and his yellow rings glowed in the dim light. He stood in an offensive battle stand with his teeth bared and red eyes furious. He stood there like a cat about to take on a loin but he looked as confident as ever. With a toothy grin he said a few simple words.

_"I think she said to stop..."_


	55. The Asylum: The Breakout Finale

Okay... Lots and lots of stuff in this last official chapter of The Asylum. Don't expect to have all your questions answered, but at least you'll get some amount of closure before the next update. Thanks to all of my readers and reviews, you power this story and this is for you.

Before I get started I do want to give a little free advertisement to a few stories I've found. One's called "**The Surprising Adventures of a Glaceon in Unova **by Captian Spock. It's one of my favorited and is a really nice adventure story that I highly recommend. Also a story by Electric Claw that is called **"WaterBlaze"** Claw is one of my regular reviews so just click on his name and go to it. Once again, very well done story that I think you need to check out.

One last thing, the poll from last chapter is still up since the last update was only a few days ago.

Out of these characters which two do you have the most interest in?

Azelf, Arceus, Napoleon, Scarlet, Black, Claire, and Darkrai

Now without any further wait I present you with chapter 55 of The Dark Chronicles and the last official chapter of The Asylum.

* * *

The heavy Asylum air filled my lungs as I stared into the Lucario's eyes. They were a terrifying red with just a tint of black in the middle. There was no doubt that Steel was angry with me and who wouldn't be after someone sucker punched them in the back of the neck. The tension was so thick I felt like I could see it in the hot air as the heat made the air appear to move. Panting hard it was obvious the Lucario had been fighting for some time now and with my awakening he would now need to take out another foe.

"You really don't know when to stay down do you Night?" spoke Steel as he panted. He held his right shoulder with his good paw as he spoke, must've sprained it or something.

I smirked "Yeah I know, people have always said I was too arrogant for my own good. Maybe this time I can use it for something... you know, useful."

Steel didn't look amused in the least as he stood up straight and wiped his mouth of blood "Like I told your little buddies, I will give you one chance to surrender and only one. I was lenient in the past with your little cat friend, I won't be to you. If you try to fight me I will not hold back Umbreon. Know what you're getting into... fighting a fighting type of a superior skill level than you isn't good odds."

"What, do you think that's gonna scare me? I'm no stranger to bad odds. Bad odds of getting ambushed by a gang of Rattata in the Viridian Forest, bad odds of meeting the craziest Vulpix you'll ever see, the odds of me meeting my sister out of nowhere, the odds of me somehow taking down a gym leader's Onix in one attack." I paused for a moment "or how about the odds of escaping my own mind, or meeting an old friend in this city... or even the odds of ending up here? My whole life in this last week has been one big bet against the odds and I've won so far." I furrowed my brows " Don't think you can intimidate me with your weak threats."

"Oh really... you know the moment I go on the attack I won't stop until one of us is dead?" I gave a deep frown "And I assure you, I will make sure you receive a proper burial. On your tombstone it will read "Here lies the Umbreon that wasted his life for a stupid cause."

I gave a little laugh before saying "Stupid cause Steel? You have no idea what's going on with me and if I tried to tell you your little head might explode. I have people waiting for me to get out of this and I promised myself I would escape. Not to mention I'm bringing Pyro and Dawn with me. You may call it stupid but I want to live long enough to tell a certain Vulpix I know what I did in here and how I survived. I want to tell a Pikachu that I am okay. I want to tell a douchenozzle of an Espeon how his little game allowed me to keep my head in here." Feeling my heart beat faster I continued "I want to tell a Bulbasaur about the disgusting grog I ate in here and dare him to find something worse. I want to tell a Jolteon how much I appreciate him trying to bond with my sister. I want to tell a Vaporeon that she will **never **have to worry about me ever again." I took a step towards the canine "And... I want to tell you that you are about to get your ass kicked by an Umbreon with the best and kindest, stupid, idiotic, ridiculous, fake goth of a trainer that had the guts to name his Pokemon _Night._"

Steel's deep frown softened a bit after my little speech. He loosened up his fist and cracked his neck "Very well Night, have it your way." He quickly got into a fighting stance "I'll make this as painless as possible."

Knowing that the odds were stacked against me I made my first move as soon as possible. Moving at close to top speed I used a feint attack on Steel but was careful not to put too much energy into it knowing that a dark type move wouldn't do much. The attack hit the dog in the gut, but as I kicked him it felt as if I was hitting solid steel. Not showing the slight pain I had dealt myself from my own attack I withdrew and silently cursed. Physical attacks like that won't work on him.

Now it was Steel's turn to launch an assault of his own. From the looks of it he was going all out and pumping at full speed, at least twice mine. I could barley blink before he was standing right in front of me with his fists pulled back in preparation for a punch. At the last second I raised my arms in a cross fashion and closed my eyes to try and concentrate. However I was only getting ready for one punch, not the barrage that followed. With speed that I had to open my eyes to see Steel was pulling punches off as fast as I could blink and each one was stronger than the last. Quickly I felt my arms get numb and weak from the abuse. I had to do something or I'd lose my guard and my face would be getting those blows. Despite the attacks I tried to focus enough to pull of some sort of shadow ball.

All of a sudden my arms gave out and I loosened my concentration. Instantly seeing my mistake Steel used it to the fullest and stopped for a fraction for a second to charge some kind of blue ball attack. Knowing that I had no hope of blocking it with my body I quickly scrapped up some dark matter and released it in a untamed state. Just as I let it go the blue orb charged at me at high speeds. A bright light exploded from the impact of the two conflicting forces, mine being the weaker. The aura attack barreled through my sad excuse for a shadow ball and slammed into my forehead.

Letting out a quick shout of pain I stumbled onto my back and slid a few feet from the force of the attack. The move itself hurt a lot, but that wasn't what I was worried about. I can handle pain, what I can't handle is my center of dark energy being hit by a fighting move at that range. I found it difficult to even stand up after that one, how was I going to charge up my dark moves? Not wanting to think negative for too long I forced my legs to stand and I faced my opponent.

After a series of attacks like that the Lucario looked a little winded, which made sense. Without skipping a beat he pulled a dozy out of nowhere. His claws started to glow bright as he started to swing at me. Instinctively I ducked and I was lucky as hell that he went for my neck and not my heart. He quickly used his other set of claws go for my mid section. I had to scooch back to avoid having my organs spilled out. What I didn't expect was for him to continue with that same attack rhyme and spin with his movement and come back around to go for my head. I had no choice but to let myself drop to the floor with only my numb forelegs to cushion the drop. Thank Mew's metronome that I landed on my paws and thank Azelf's arteries that I had the stamina to launch a crude tackle attack on Steel's gut again.

This time my very hard and stubborn head hit home and the Lucario staggered back from the pain a little. Seeing that he was currently stunned I quickly stored up some dark matter and attacked with it. But what came out was nothing but a shadow ball, it was more like a shadow blob that splashed all over my paws. A little pissed that my perfectly planned attack had failed due to my lack of concentration I angrily swiped at the dog with a scratch.

Surprisingly the attack did more that I thought it would. In fact it did more damage than the tackle as it hit him in the jaw. I felt a dark boom as he spun around as he fell over with a grunt. Quite satisfying with my attack I backed off "What's wrong, did I give you a Bo-BoWoah!"

As he stood back up I saw how much damage my attack had really done. He had three superficial scratch marks on his face, but around those cuts were burnt flakes of fur that had been singed off by the dark energy "You are very lucky I can't go at you with full strength..."

I smiled "I'm sure I a-"

The rude Lucario didn't even let me finish as he unleashed even faster speed than before that could rival Spark's quick attack. I didn't have time to even think about blinking before he slugged me down to the ground with one surprise blow. My brain bounced around in my skull as I slammed onto the hard floor. My vision clear up just in time to see him about to punch me in my... unmentionables. For the sake of my possible future children I rolled over and heard a metal bounding where I just was. Looking straight at Steel I saw him attempt to punch me in my nose. Expertly I parried his blow and followed up with a punch of my own. It wasn't as strong as his seeing that I lacked thumbs and much pure physical strength, but a punch in the jaw is a punch in the jaw.

Except when your target is half metal.

Steel flinched a little bit, but the punched barley phased him. Unable to believe that my punch had done nothing my spirits fell. In the time that I lost some of my usually unflinching confidence Steel used it to his advantage. With his pure power he forced me to a wall and embedded his two hand spike on both sides of my head with his palms facing my skull.

I was done.

"You made the choice to die the moment you tried to fight me Night." said Steel with a slightly sympathetic voice " You are a noble opponent, but it's time you met your end."

My heart raced as I saw my life pass before my eyes, my childhood go by. My family, my loving mother, my stupid father, Flareon the superstar... Espeon my brother that I did care about on some level... All of them. What would Vapor do without me, how would she go on? Glaceon and Leafeon would never have the chance to see me again. My mom would never hold her child again and she wouldn't get the chance to say goodby-

I stopped myself. At that moment I realized something completely heart stopping that made tears form in my eyes. Yes I was afraid to die, but that wasn't why I started to cry. I cried because right then and there remembered that I never said goodbye to my family. I just left one night. I always thought that I would go back and fix things but if I died here I couldn't. They would spend the rest of their lives wondering what happened to me, not knowing about my demise.

As the tears started to roll I looked down, to embarrassed to look my intended killer in the eyes. I heard him sigh "You chose to cry now Umbreon... interesting. You are afraid to die?"

Though the surge of emotions I forced myself to look him in the eye and say "No... I just" I started to sob " I never said goodbye to them..."

"Who."

"My family!" I blurted out "My... family. Please I'm begging you, just let me go and you'll never hear from me again."

"I can't let that happen Umbreon" spoke Steel "I need to withhold my reputation... forgive me."

I closed my eyes and held my breath and waited for Steel to blow my brains out. I started to shake as fear gripped me as I sniffled and struggled not to whine. I waited and waited for death to come... but nothing happened all I heard was one word from a very familiar voice saying a very familiar word that a dreaded the first time heard it but now I couldn't feel happier as the voice said

"Thunder wave."

* * *

"So what you're saying is Arceus is dying?" I asked still in a bit in shock from what I had been told. "And you go and tell that small headed Umbreon before you tell me?"

"That wasn't my choice" said Mew as he shrugged and pointed at his blue lookalike "I let Azelf make the final call, as he had been observing you two for some time."

I looked at Azelf with a look that could kill, in fact, if he wasn't a legendary it might have. The helmeted Pokemon seemed to instantly remember something and said "Oh, look at the time... I need to get going!"

Catching Azelf's bull-crap like a catcher's mitt Mew instantly challenged him on that "Where're you going, we are in the middle of a seriously important conversation."

Caught in his obvious lie Azelf dug himself deeper in a hole "Oh... I'm going to... Unova?"

"Unova... why? Sinnoh is your region."

"Chaaaa... 'cus I'm going to have tea... with Reshiram."

That last statement was so stupid I had to step in "You are going to have a cup of tea with Reshiram, that gigantic white beast?"

"You know him but you don't know me?" blurted Azelf pointing at himself "No body outside Sinnoh knows me!"

Mew rolled his eyes "Yeah, yeah sure... just get going actually" he looked at me "I need to have a private talk with Miss Ruby here about her fur."

My heart skipped a beat, what was he talking about. My fur... why would that be important to what we were just talking about? I looked down at myself and struggled to not hate my disgusting pelt.

"Okay then Mew," said Azelf before he paused and spoke "See ya Ruby."

Too deep in my own thoughts I didn't have the energy to respond with my voice, I simply waved nonchalantly.

"Ruby... look at me" said Mew in a soft voice. There was a ominous wind that blew though the plain we were in. I forced myself to keep my head down in my stubborn defiance in not listening to Mew himself.

I heard the grass softly crunch as the pink legendary walked to me. With his small, but powerful paws he slowly lifted my head. I looked up into his kind blue eyes and instantly felt better.

"You feel ashamed of your fur, don't you." he said calmly.

A sudden rush of emotions filled me as I forced myself not to cry. Too ashamed to look at him in my current unstable state I glanced down at the ground. I was unable to say the words out loud. I needed to keep my emotions inside where I could deal with them, where no one could insult or demean me.

"You don't have to be afraid of me mocking you Ruby." spoke Mew in a wise voice "I promise I won't."

I don't know what came over me, but for some reason I felt as if I could confide in Mew. He was so pure and so kind that I couldn't help but trust him with everything. Anyway, he is a legendary and they have good reputations.

Deep seeded anger was unearthed when I started to delve deeper into my memories. I looked at Mew "It's not shame... it's just anger." I puffed out a plume of smoke "All the things that my parents said to me about it, how they said it was a mutation... a deformity. My siblings didn't treat my like their sister or even like a fellow Pokemon. It was just that thing that lived with them." My paws up-rooted some grass from how tight I clenched them "My childhood was absolute hell because this fur..."

Mew sighed "I'm sorry to hear that Ruby, do you know why your parents treated you like that? It can't only be because of something aesthetic like fur color?"

"They always said that it was because of 'something I would need to do' and that they loved me but they didn't want the other kids to be hurt because of what I needed to do." I replied "In private they were very supportive of me... but in public they acted as if they wanted nothing to do with me." I sighed "Do you know what they may have meant by 'something I would need to do?' "

The feline smirked "I know precisely what they meant, it's something that I've suspected for a long time Ruby. The moment you were born I knew that you would be important later on."

My eyes widened "What? I'm important because I was born pink?"

Mew giggled a little, which was weird seeing that he was kinda like a god, and responded with "No Ruby, it's not your fur... it's what it represents."

Now officially freaked I pressed the issue more "What's so special about me, what does this fur mean?"

He casually pointed at at me "I'd love to tell you right now, but I doubt Mewtwo would be super happy with me if I did. Just understand that you and many of the Pokemon you know play a vital role it events that will be happening soon. Keep yourself safe and when you can't remember that someone is always there to help."

Mew gave a pure smile "I need to go now, but be assured that we will speak again." he was about to turn around when he stopped and said "Oh, wait one more thing. Do no tell _anyone _about this conversation okay? Anyone who needs to know will be informed alright. You should be waking up soon so I need to get out of here?"

I raised a brow in confusion "What the Poke ball... I am awake though if I wasn't I'd be blacked out."

Mew giggled again "Poke ball, you think your in one of those?" he looked around "Well, I guess they do make them to look like what your mind is like."

"My mind?" I asked "What are you talking about? I'm in my own mind!"

With the smile still on his face Mew said "And with that revelation I make my leave, au revoir Ruby, I will see you again."

* * *

"Gahh!" shouted Steel as his spiked were pulled out the the wall by his muscles tightening from the paralysis. Almost falling over he turned to see his attackers just in time to have two vines bring his paws together and constrain them. Screaming in what sounded like anger he fell to his knees and attempted to let his arms loose.

"Nice move Razor, thanks for the assist." said Spark with his usual flair. Next to him stood Razor with his vines extended in the hopes of containing the Lucario.

"Thanks for the compliment, but you little attack is starting to wear off!" yelled the Bulbasaur.

_'It was them..'_

I saw Jolt appear from down the dark hallway behind them, panting like a dog he said "Bloody hell, you boys need some help 'ere?"

Grinding his teeth Razor looked at the Jolteon from the corner of his eyes "Oh, no we're fine mister Sherlock we don't need any help with this Lucario that was about to blow Night's head up. How's about you go get Watson and maybe _he _could help us?" said Razor with sarcasm that could rival mine.

Jolt looked at him with a bit of surprise "No need to be so angry, I'll help." he turned his focus to the moment at hand. With his incredible speed the Jolteon rushed over to the Lucario with what looked like a simple quick attack. Out of nowhere however he dove Steel. Turning around in mid-air he kicked the canine not once, but twice in the face with weak, but concentrated strikes. Landing on all four headbutted Steel before falling back.

"That one has a hard head." he spoke looking a little dazed "How much longer can you hold 'em Razor?"

Almost like it was timed Steel broke free of the Bulbasaur's grip. Razor's vines quickly retracted into his bulb "Not much longer." he said after the point.

Fueled by his fury Steel tightened his fists and glared at my friends "You think that's going to bring me down?" He got into a charging stance "You can't touch me!" with that he ran at the trio with full speed. I could tell they were caught off guard and were not ready for that.

Out of nowhere a blast of tightly concentrated water streamed pass Sparks face and nailed Steel in the chest. So surprised by this the Lucario didn't have time to react to the blue blur that rushed into him. Crashing into the same wall I was propped on Steel cried in shock and pain. Looking at his new attacker I couldn't help but smile.

"Don't touch them." said Vapor with an expression of anger that I had never seen on her face before.

_'My sister.'_

"Nice one Vapor!" yelled another familiar voice. Turning to see the source I saw Ferne rush out of the hallway "I'll take him from here, you go check on Night."

_'They've come to save me...'_

Emotion squeezed my heart as my sister embraced me. I fought myself to not cry from the intense surge of happiness I felt as Vapor dung he face into my chest. Almost sobbing she sniffled and looked up into my eyes. Her dark blue eyes melted me with their care "Umbreon..." she said calling me by my natural name with a soft voice.

I smiled a genuine smile "Vaporeon... you hug tight."

She giggled "Stop making me laugh Umbreon... I was so worried" she said falling back into the hug with her last word.

"I surrender, I surrender!" yelled Steel's voice from next to me. Turning my head I saw Ferne standing over the pinned Pokemon with one of her wrist blades to the Lucario's neck.

"Smart." she said in a cold voice "Now tell me why the hell Night is in here Steel!"

Surprised out of my mind I said "How do you know him?"

It was her turn to be shocked as she looked at me with her brown eyes "Oh... hi Night, good to see you." he voice was very calm despite the situation "Just let me handle this and we will get you out of here."

"You know very well why he is here Jane... you are a very high priority for Team Galactic, all we wanted to do was get some information out of him... and maybe do some tests." spoke Steel from under the angry Leafeon.

Grabbing Steel by the fur on his neck Ferne picked him up and brought him to her muzzle "What tests Steel?"

Smirking the Lucario said "Get off of me and I'll spill the beans."

Reluctantly Ferne sheathed her blade into what seemed like her arm (gross) and stepped off Steel. Everyone was quiet and completely focused on the scene developing before us. Dusting himself off Steel kept his word.

"We were going to test him with some serum that was meant to increase speed, but then things went to hell and walls randomly started to blow up." started Steel "Stoke of bad luck too, for him at least." He weakly pointed to a corner "He might have been as fast as that Purrloin was."

Oh my Mew, I had totally forgotten Pyro and Dawn. Looking over to them I was calmed when I saw them still breathing, but unconscious. I was calmed down by seeing them okay, but a certain Bulbasaur looked shocked.

"Dawn?" he said looking at the still Purrloin. Rushing over to her he looked down at Dawn with a look of worry on his face. The worry instantly turned into anger towards Steel as he looked over at him "What did you do to her!"

Rolling his eyes the Lucario sneered and said "Calm your bulb, she's just knocked out same as the Houndour. I have no quarrel with you or them anymore so you're free to do whatever you want with them, I'm not risking getting stabbed by Jane here."

"Wait a minute." said Spark stepping into the conversation "Let me get this straight." he looked at Ferne "You know this Lucario dude that was trying to hurt...

"Kill." I added.

"... thanks Night, good to see you didn't change" said Spark with a smile ", kill Night from who knows where. Razor you know that Purrlion..."

"Dawn." said both Razor and I at the same time.

Sighing the Pikachu continued "Yeah, Dawn... you know Dawn... small world this is huh?"

Summoning up all the stamina I still had I forced myself to my feet (With help from Vapor) and looked over at the Lucario that just minutes before was about to kill me. Looking at me with his red eyes I felt slightly intimidated ,but kept my grit as I said "So... I can just leave?"

Steel crossed his arms and smiled "Are you kidding me, you have me outnumbered 6 to one. I'm lucky you are letting me go Umbreon, even after what I almost did to you." he paused for a moment "You... you are a kind soul Night and I never say this but.." Steel tightened his fist and quickly spat out "Thank you."

Brushing off the crappy thank you like a bad habit I growled "Whatever, just get out of here Steel. I'm tired of looking at your face." My voice was cold as ice, but at that moment the last thing I wanted to do was to come off as 'forgiving'.

Not taking it personally Steel nodded "I'll get out of your face, I have things to deal with." he sighed "The warden's gonna tear my head off for losing like this." and with that the Pokemon walked down the opposite hallway and soon was gone in the darkness.

Almost instantly I was bum rushed my Ferne by a tackle/ hug that really hurt. With a thud I fell to the ground with Ferne standing over me with a cute little smile on her face. Both of us were completely silent as we both stared into each others eyes. Knowing that she wouldn't say a thing I made the first move.

"So... where's your little bandanna, I thought it was your color." I said with a goofy expression.

Without warning Ferne slapped me across the face "Shut up you idiot." she hugged me tight "I was really worried about you. Do you know all the trouble we went through just to get to you. All the planning and risk and that's what you have to say!"

I couldn't tell is she was mad or not to I just blinked and said "Thank you?"

Rolling her eyes Ferne couldn't help but smile. She carefully got off of me and as she did I swear I heard her say in a happy tone "You idiot."

Before I could get up I saw a yellow paw outreach towards me. Knowing just who it was I smirked and let him help me up "It's good to see you again Night." said Spark with a shine in his eye.

"Good to see you again too Spark." I replied not willing to hide my emotion toward him anymore. If I could be straight up with Dawn I could with him.

"Nice to see you're okay chap." sounded Jolt patting me on the back "We should get you out of here to a Pokemon center a-"

"I missed that accent." I interrupted. Stopping himself Jolt's eyes widened and then relaxed with him smile.

"Thanks... missed seeing your face around." he said.

Suddenly realizing again that I had forgotten about Dawn and Pyro. Looking over to where they were I saw Razor fretting over Dawn. Walking over to him I wanted to see how he knew Dawn.

"Raze." I said when I was next to him "You alright?"

Turning to look at me his genuine smile almost made me smirk "Am I okay, you just survived this hell whole and you're asking me if I'm okay? Are you sure they didn't do any experiments on you?"

Laughing for a second I said "Yeah I'm sure... you know Dawn?"

Looking back down at the still feline with pity "Long story, but yeah... we need to get moving though."

"I couldn't agree more!" Shouted another familiar voice from behind me. Out of all the things I have seen in my life I did not except to see Dexter with some kind of wrap around his stomach, dried blood all over his hind legs, dragging Ruby across the floor.

"Oh... I forgot." said Vapor "I dropped her when I rushed in here." she blushed hard "Sorry."

Dexter dropped Ruby's form and looked at me. His purple eyes had a surprising amount of what looked like worry in them and when he saw me it was gone instantly I swear I saw him smile when I said "Night... your alive, good." He looked back behind him "We need to get out of here before things get worse, I can hear human's above us."

"Wait a minute, why is Ruby unconscious?" I asked in a bit of a worried voice.

"Not now Night, I'll explain once we're out of here." replied the Espeon "Right now I'd really love to get the hell of of dodge."

* * *

Walking through the streets of Vermilion city I couldn't help but still worry about Scarlet. She was being so stupid and making too many dangerous choices. The sun was beating down on me which helped me keep my stress under control, but I was not happy at all. She just goes and does what she wants without even considering all the terrible things could happen to the people she cares about.

I was infuriated.

Needing to talk to someone I was on my way to one of the only humans I truly trusted, someone that saw me as something more than a celebrity. He was a little gruff and not the sweetest guy in the world, but he was straight with you and always gave you true advice. You've probably heard of him, even if you haven't you should recognize the name.

It being fairly early in the morning I was sure that he didn't have any challengers so me and him could talk.

Reaching my destination I was proven correct in my assumption that no trainer had attempted to challenge him at that hour. Walking though the doors of the large building I neglected to read the 'Vermillion city' Gym sign that hung in front. Yep, I was going to see the one and only Lt. Surge, the Vermillion city gym leader.

Once inside I knew that he would be where he was every morning, doing his 50 or so push ups with all of his Pokemon. Shouting commands he and his three Pokemon, a Pikachu, an Ampharos, and of course his Raichu. All of them were pumping at full strength and from the look of it they were just wrapping up.

"Forty-eight, forty-nine...fifty!" yelled the military man as he finished the work out. "Wooo!" shouted Surge as he got to his feet "Great work out solders, now go in the back and rest up...you deserve it. Dismissed!" He put hand up in salute.

His Pokemon all saluted him back and yelled "Yes sir!" and quickly retired to the back rooms of the gym.

"Still pumping it at full force Surge?" I said once his Pokemon had left the room, he didn't like to see them talk to me in an unofficial manner.

He turned around and put his hands on his hips. His green sleeveless tee-shirt tightly gripped his sculptured torso and was tucked into his desert camo cargo shorts and on his feet were his standard black boots. He tilted his famous black sunglasses down to have a look at me and smiled "Good 'ol Napoleon... good to see you."

I gave a quick salute as I continued to walk to him "Likewise... seen the news lately?"

Nodding he said "Yep... sure hope those three are okay."

Not knowing what the human was talking about I had to inquire "Pardon?" I asked.

"News says that they've managed to get special forces teams into the place and they've tapped into the records. Amazingly they've detained and confirmed all of the couple hundred Pokemon that were prisoners in there, all of them except a Houndour, a Purrloin and a captured Umbreon that the system calls Night." said Surge "They've been scouring the place, but haven't found a trace of them yet."

I frowned "Tragic, I hope the make it out okay" I thought if they had found how Team Rocket was involved and that it was a Team Galactic facility, I doubted they wouldn't be able to find a single thing that would tie the entire operation to the Sinnoh organization.

"Yeah it is unfortunate... but why are you here Nap. I'm getting ready for today's challengers." said Surge getting off topic.

"Nothing, I'm just here to observe. Maybe if they see Vermilion's child they might be inspired to fight harder." I said in a cocky tone.

From behind me I heard the gym doors open and the sound of shoes on the floor "Oh my god, is that Napoleon!" shouted a female voice, most likely an adoring fan of mine.

"Let's test your little theory out." spoke Surge before he turned around the back rooms "Stand at attention soldiers, we have ourselves a challenger."


	56. Rebirth: The Awakening

Well I just realized that the first 55 chapters of this story all take place within one week... quite the busy week these guys have had huh? Anyway I wanted to thank all my readers for having this story reach 10,000+ views and helping me get to that 100.000 word mark that I've reached with this chapter. Seriously, you guys are awesome.

Okay then, me have a new question for you guys. Out of these relationships, which one is the most interesting to you?

Ruby and Razor, Night and Dawn, Night and Ferne, Dexter and Ferne, Dexter and Crystal, or Napoleon and Scarlet. Yeah, lots of relationships there but I like all of them about the same. I just want to see how much you like them.

Thanks for reading this and enjoy the chapter.

* * *

_"Espeon... I'm an Espeon thank you." Dexter, chapter 42._

* * *

I had blacked out, I knew I had. Just from the feeling of light headedness that had overcome me I could tell I had feinted from something. It's easy to tell whether or not I was awake too. When I'm asleepy sleep I can't feel disconfort and everything smells nice. Also everything is always nice and dark the way it should be. But if I was waking up from that I would be bombarded with a headache that would make Dialga itsself poop it's proverbial pants, if Pokemon wore clothing of course and even if they did where would a beast like that find suitible... sorry I got sidetracked.

Anyway, I knew I was waking up from something bad. For a bit I just laid there on what felt like a nice soft bed. I remember it feeling softer than normal beds I had been in and it had a blanket that covered me with a warm embrace. Not to mention that the sheets were so smooth... it was like heaven. Despite my overwhelming head pains and the slight soreness that plagued all my joints I felt incredibly comfortable.

As I laid there in my sleepy daze I started to let my other senses turn on, the first of which being my hearing. As I did I started to hear a little conversation.

"I'm very sorry sir, but your Umbreon really needs some rest along with the others. I know you are concerned but I need you to understand he is in good hands." spoke a soft feminine voice. She spoke in a calm tone and her voice almost soothed me.

"I know, I know, I know... the last nurse gave me the same little speech. I understand that he needs his rest but just let me be with him okay." spoke a familar male tone. I quickly recognized it to be Jack, but something was different about him. His voice didn't have that usual peppy charm that made him memorable. It had a genuine tinge of pain and worry in his tone, he truly was desperate to be with me.

_'Crap'_ I thought _'Fricken' emotions... making me feel all nice about my trainer.' _Not wanting to admit it to even myself I felt my heart smile inside my cold interior. Jack seemed to really care about my well being, or at least enough to want to be by my side in silent support.

"If we let you stay in here then we have to let all your other Pokemon in here and while your Umbreon is not awake there is no need to bother the other patients with all the company, don't be selfish." said the female voice again, she was apparently a nurse.

Jacked sighed and said "I promise not to let either of my other Pokemon in here, just please let me be with Night."

Now more than tired of laying there pretending to be asleep I slowly opened my eyes. To be expected the annoying and blinding light of the Pokemon center was just waiting to pounce on my vulnerable iris. With time my eyes eventually adjusted to the light of the room and I was able to completely open them. With the intense light came the slight wooziness I felt in the presence of it, like my body was rejecting the substance itself. In fact, looking back at it now I hadn't seen too much light in the days before so it was the first time my viewing orbs had been in the presence of light like that for a while.

I had to groan a bit from the discomfort of the light, which drew the attention of the two humans in the room. Quickly looking around the room I saw the all white walls surround me with two other beds to my right. My vision was still blurry so all I saw in the beds were dark masses that appeared to be awake.

"Night!" almost yelled Jack at my sudden awakening, or maybe he just said it normally and my ears were just super sensitive. Seeing his form getting closer to me almost made me feel a little safer, like nothing could hurt me... it was weird. As my sight sharpened I finally saw his face. In the time I was gone he had grown a little scruffy mustache and beard on his face that looked like specks of dirt on his face. His slick greasy hairstyle had been replaced by a dry natural bedhead look that suited him better. His emerald green eyes were still just as kind and stupid as ever and the smile on his face was true.

"How ya doing buddy?" he spoke.

I sighed "How many times do we need to go over this... don't call me buddy, it makes me feel sma-." I let a slight smile on face as I said it knowing very well that he still couldn't understand me "Ah what the hell, it's good to see you."

"You look pretty good for an Umbreon that's just been through hell." he said almost responding perfectly to my statement, almost as he kinda knew what I was saying.

I gave an arrogant smirk "Well, I am awesome."

* * *

After leaving the gym I found myself having a moment of thought on the relativity quiet streets of Vermilion. I truly liked spending time with Lt. Surge, he was a good human that treated his Pokemon with respect and like they were his peers. In fact, a large part of me wanted to be a part of Surge's team but I knew that it would never happen. Surge only let electric types on his team and with me being a grass type I wouldn't be allowed. The more I thought about it the more I realized that I wanted to be captured by a trainer just on general. I wanted to see the world and that wasn't happening with the stagnant life I was living in Vermilion. Don't get me wrong, I love Vermilion; it had grown into a home away from home fore me. It's just that I left my home and my parents in Unova just to live here. Maybe Scarlet would miss me, but I would want to live my own life a-

I stopped in the street as I had a moment of realization. If I left Scarlet would have no one to protect her in Team Rocket or Team Galactic got wind of being played like a piano. No doubt they would send assassin's to kill her and without me here she'd be a sitting duck. Either I could gain freedom for myself and do what I want, or I could spend the rest of my life worrying about Scarlet.

What to do...

Without warning a loud scream cut through the air and put me back in reality. At that moment my personal issues took a back seat as I sprung into action. Sprinting around the corner I quickly saw what the commotion was about. I was in the area of the city that was very Tuscan and with that comes fairly small houses. Standing on top of a 4 story flat top building was a Tododile with goth-like makeup on holding a chubby psyduck as a hostage. In the Tododile's paw was a very sinister looking knife and the Psyduck looked very terrified. Around me were various humans and Pokemon looking shocked at what they were seeing.

"Okay listen up, we are just having a little issue here. No need to get the police involved. No one messes with us and no one gets hurt. But!" the blue crocodile held the dagger up the the Psyduck's neck "if anyone wants be me a hero, this guy gets his throat slit alright!"

My heart started to race from the excitement of the moment, I hadn't of had an opportunity like that in weeks and I was dying to test my skills again. From a look at the Tododile I saw that I could most likely deal with this situation blind folded, but with that Psyduck's life at stake I would have to have my fun another time.

Without making a sound I made my way through the crowd before anyone had a chance to spot me. In only a second or two I found myself in the alleyway next to my target building. It was a normal alleyway with various stains and dirt lining it, but I wasn't there to see the sights. Looking up I smirked at the fire escape that would be my means of entry. I instantly knew that the ladder on the fire escape was too high for me to simply grab it with my small stature, but with the incredible wit I posses this was only a minor setback. With smooth movement I effortlessly scaled the sides of the alley and used my momentum to jump and grasp the ladder. Using my upper body strength I climbed the metal structure and within moments I was on the first landing of the fire escape. Looking up I saw that all the windows on the fire escape were closed, except the one on the second floor. Wanting to be as stealthy as possible I didn't want to break windows. Cursing Arceus that only one was open I slipped in without a sound.

Once inside it instantly became obvious that this was a robbery gone wrong. Various cloths and random items were scattered all over the floors and tables were turned over. Also I saw that this was a very well off family as they had amazingly ornate decorations from the impeccably kept floors (Besides the cloths) to the fact that every wall was lined in what looked like real gold. Very impressive.

Back to business. After quickly looking over each room on the floor I was sure that this floor was clear completely, everything the burglars had wanted here had been ransacked without mercy. At the end of a hallway I noticed a staircase, otherwise known as my ticket to the third floor. Working my way on silent feet to that stairs I climbed them within seconds. However, once at the top of the stairs I instantly stopped at what I saw.

About 5 feet from me stood a Chikorita looking around the main hallway of that floor. She looked anything but lady like with the way she nonchalantly knocked over valuable objects without a care. She looked like a normal Chikorita, besides the goth makeup on her that resembled the Tododile's. I make the observation that I could not sneak past her, not that I wanted to. Anyone who would do this to a family deserves a little ass kicking.

"Leaf, you find anything good down there!" shouted a female voice from the floor above.

The Chikorita lifted her head "No, not yet. I'll meet you guys up there in a minute!"

I smirked, no she wouldn't... not on my watch. Choosing that moment to make my move I sprinted up onto the fellow grass type , sacrificing my silence for the speed. The Chikorita, or Leaf as she was called, turned around just in time to get elbowed in the face by my left arm. Only grunting a little bit she didn't even have time to scream before I used my right hand to grab the leaf on her head. Stopping my sprint I continued to swing the Pokemon like a rope from her leaf. Once at the top of the swing I let go, sending the Chikorita flying across the hallway and slamming into a wall back first. Giving a pretty loud grunt she sunk to the floor with a look of pain on her face.

"What the hell..." she said, dazed by my sudden attack. Not going to give her anytime to get up I charged at her. Gathering up energy in my hand I swiped at her with perfect accuracy. I was going so fast that Leaf couldn't of dodged even if she tried as a slash of wind cut her across the body. Screaming in pain for a moment I realized that my Aerial Ace hadn't knocked her out, so I quickly followed up with an uppercut which finished the job. Not the clean way I envisioned it, but she was unconscious.

"Leaf, you oka-" yelled the same voice from before, except I could feel the source behind me. Turning around I was forced to duck under an ember attack that almost seared by face off. A Cyndaquil stood on the stairs with that same idiotic makeup and an angry look on her face. Knowing that I couldn't allow her to get away from me to tell anyone else of my location I knew I needed to take her out. Before she could snuff up another ember attack I placed my hands on my forehead making a triangle with my fingers. Closing my eyes to focus I used the move I had been born with, Flash. The intense white flash bounced off every surface in the house, including the Cyndaquil's eyes (not sure how seeing that they seemed to be closed.). The fire-type fell to her back and rolled around screaming as she held her eyes. Quickly figuring out that stealth is very hard to achieve with someone yelling like a banshee I made the choice to silence her. Rushing over to the injured Cyndaquil and punched her in the nose, hard. The moment the attack connected she instantly went silent, knocked out just like the Chikorita.

Too easy, these guys must be amateurs. Usually it could take 5 or 10 hits the take someone down... these two went down in less that 10 together. Realizing that I was dealing with criminals that were not pros I continued.

The next 2 floor were uneventful as all I did was clear all the rooms and realize that no one else was on the floors. As I calmly walked to what I knew was nearing the roof and knew that there was at least one hostile that I would need to detain along with at least one hostage. This would be no problem.

"Please m'am I have done nothing wrong, I plead that you release me." spoke a civilized voice from above me as I climbed the stairs onto the roof. It was most likely the Psyduck that the Tododile was holding hostage.

I heard a loud slap, a quick scream, and a thud before I heard the Tododile say "Shut up okay, just let my girls downstairs finish cleaning house and we'll be out of your life forever."

Hugging the sides of the stairwell as I calculated my options. I could go in loud and charging, but if she had the knife to the Psyduck I would be responsible for his death. Had to go in quiet, but I had no idea what the roof was like or if she was watching the rooftop entrance. I'd be walking right into a trap and that would be highly unfortunate. Resolving that I might need to use slightly deadly force I grabbed one of the many throwing daggers on my waist I prepared for the worst and went in.

Quietly opening the door to the roof I was pleased that it was almost totally silent. I saw that this family that lived here had an extensive lawn with few walkways to get around. Being a healthy green I would perfectly blend in with my plant brethren. Diving quietly into the fairly tall grass I became a ghost in broad daylight, sneaking through the foliage using my snake-like body.

"Where the hell are those two..." said the Tododile with an angry voice. Looking over to the source I was pleased with the fact that she was a few feet away from the captive Psyduck, who was still looking very terrified. The crocodile twirled her dagger and looked around "What the heck is this."

This was it, the perfect opportunity to strike with her being distracted. Getting to my feet without trouble I rushed the Tododile in hopes to catch her off guard. I expected her to see me as I attacked her from basically the front, but what I didn't see coming was how fast she raised her knife to me. Unable to stop in time I quickly unsheathed my favorite blade made of onyx (not the Pokemon, I'm not a barbarian) and brought it to her's.

Our blades clashed with a clang that rang through the air and our eyes met. Her orange eyes met my red one with fury, I wasn't trying to kill her but doubt that feeling was mutual. Pulling back her dagger she smirked "Oh, the mighty Napoleon trying to stop another crime eh..." she pulled her knife up to her face "Too bad I'm going to end you right here!" with that 'here' she charged me in a sloppy fashion. Ducking under her inaccurate strike I actually had to parry her next one. With ease I side steeped another attack as I waited for my moment to disarm her. When she raised a paw to attack again I found my moment and took advantage of it. With incredible skill I swiped up, taking the dagger out of the Tododile's hand. Pointing my dagger at her face I adeptly caught her knife in my other hand effectively ending our quick skirmish without opening a pore.

"Surrender, now please. I don't like amateurs." I said insulting her a bit. From the look of anger that appeared on her face she obviously didn't take it as a joke. For a second there was silence before a voice broke out from behind me.

"Oh thank you so very much kind sir" said the Psyduck from behind me "I had heard the stories but you are much more impressive in person Napoleon."

Smiling a little from my compliment I loss focus on the Tododile, which directly caused the events that followed. Since I lost my concentration the criminal was able to punch me in the face (Quite hard too if I do say so myself). While recoiling I dropped her dagger and sheathed mine as I tried to get my feet stable, however what I didn't expect was for her to run past the Psyduck and pushing him. With that push the Psyduck fell... off the edge of the roof. Turning around just in time to see the Tododile jumping to the next rooftop to get away and see the duck fall it was split-second choice to save the Psyduck's life.

Running selflessly off the rooftop my aerodynamic body cut through the air much faster than the Psyduck's chunky form. Hearing the people watching scream and gasp in horror I focused through the noise and grabbed the Psyduck. Now I had another issue, I was falling 4 stories onto cement sidewalk which would at least injure me severally and at worse cause my tragic death in front of my public. Not wanting either of those to happen I had to think fast. With my amazing luck I noticed a flagpole sticking out above the entrance to the building. Focusing all the power I had into my tail I used the attack wrap on the pole itself. My strong tail wrapped around the pole like a sugar loving snake around a lollipop and held tight. Only a few moments after jumping off a roof I was hanging upside-down grasping a now fainted Psyduck hanging about 8 feet off the ground.

Just in case you didn't know why I'm so famous... you should now.

* * *

"Hey Dex, Night's up"

Snapping me out of my deep thought was the voice of Spark from the Pokemon center entrance. Having escaping out of the Asylum 2 days before I had been quickly healed by several potions and now had a new clean wrap around my almost healed cut.

I smiled "Thank you Spark... just give me another minute." And with that the electric mouse retreated back into the glass door building.

Luckily for me the Ceruleon press had been waiting for days to get the scoop on the Pokemon that 'Escaped the horrid caverns' by themselves. Since all three of them, the Purrloin, the Houndour and Night, had been resting for 2 days they've only gotten the chance to talk with Jack. As for the lucky part, they were now waiting to get the news of their health, but it was in the morning and they were reporting on the days other stories.

I couldn't help but feel incredible arrogance in the fact that my plan had worked almost perfectly, even with my injury. Everything was just as I suspected and with the other attack that was going on we managed to slip almost completely under the radar.

"Oh, hello..."

Yet again a voice had interrupted my thinking, but this time I was less annoyed as I looked to see the speaker. Standing about 2 feet next to me was Crystal the team rocket Glaceon, she seemed to have just exited the alley next the Pokemon center. She had a look of almost happiness on her face as I saw her. "Good to see you again Espeon."

Smirking as I realized that I never told her my name I said "It's good seeing you as well Crystal,where is you Pidgeotto friend?"

She shrugged "Still looking for our trainers you know... I'm sure they'll turn on eventually." Even though her voice was a little nonchalant her expression showed a slight bit of pain in her eyes. I didn't know her well enough so I deicided not to press the issue and continued with the talk.

"Yeah I'm sure you're right... but why are you here?" I asked trying my best not to sound impolite.

Crystal smiled a little, something that almost made me smile back, and said "I just heard of what you and your friends did with that information I gave you and wanted to see if you were okay." she pointed to my bandage "Looks like you got yourself a little boo-boo there."

"Hey, this was a bad wound. I came close to bleeding to death" I replied laughing a little "But thanks for the concern."

"Oh a little touchy there huh Espeon, at least you made it out okay." she stopped for a moment "Anyway I am happy you are alive, I'm sure there are people that would have missed you if you died in there."

I rolled my eyes "Oh yeah, who?" I asked in a cocky tone.

"Well, for one I would."

My heart stopped beating for a fraction of a second when she said that. From the way her blueish eyes looked into mine I could tell that she was very serious. She was flirting with me and the weird thing is that I was fine with it.

I felt myself blush a little, but it would have been impossible to see through my pink fur. Falling for her statement I let myself give a true genune smile and say "Thank you, nice to see at least someone would miss me."

Crystal looked down at my feet and responed with "Your welcome, but you really should check on your freinds. I'm sure they're wondering what you're doing out here."

Sighing I agreed with what she was saying "But really, I hope you find your trainers. If you ever need help I'm sure my trainer will be staying in this city for a while so just come and ask, I'm always available." I looked into her cold, but deep eyes "So don't be afraid to ask."

"You know... I never realized that your eyes were blue..." she said as she turned around "They fit you well."

Watching her walk down the alleyway I realized that I was strongly attracted to that Glaceon, more than anyother female I have met. Her smooth, icy fur made mine stand up on end. Her eyes were just endless in beauty, even the way she walked was so... pleasing. I wanted to see her again, and as she walked away I hoped I would be able to.

"Dexter, you still out here?" asked Jolt's voice as he poked out of the Pokemon center with his accent ringing though my ears.

"Yeah," I said distantly still looking at Crystal walking away. Looking at him I still had the smile from before and said "I'm coming in now."


	57. Rebirth: Surfacing Issues

Okay guys, got another chapter for you and there is a lot of info packed into this one.

Two questions for you that you need to read this chapter to understand.

When it comes to the situation with Ruby, Razor and Dawn what do you think Dawn did, and do you think she did the right thing? This question will be restated in the future as I reveal more about what happened.

Enjoy!

* * *

"So..." spoke Spark standing on my bed with a smile "How do you feel?"

My whole body was still sore, like I had just been defrosted or something. Every-time I would move anything I muscles would stubbornly rub on my bones to cause pain and discomfort. I could go into how each time I blinked I felt my eyes rub on my eyelids like sandpaper but I'd like to keep this Pg-13. But besides that I was perfectly comfortable. "I feel fine Spark." I said rolling my eyes "I have been sleeping for the last two days."

Vapor, who was standing next to my bed chuckled "And I'm sure that you're still tired right?"

"You know me too well sis," I said before yawning " I could sleep for a week if I really wanted to."

"What you're that lazy?" said a familiar female voice from the other side of the room. Looking over to my right I noticed Ruby sitting on a chair with her arms crossed in a very human like structure with an annoyed look on her face. Even from across the room I spotted two marks etched into the side of her face where her fur seemed to grow darker. "Why am I not surpri-"

"Good to see you too Roody." I said calling her by the name I referred to her during our first battle. With the incredible attitude I had put into the statement I expected the Vulpix to react the way she did with smoke puffing out her nose.

"Don't do that Ruby, this a Pokemon center." spoke Razor who was standing next to her "Smoke isn't good for injured Pokemon." he said referring to the Pokemon that was in the bed next to him

That's when I saw that Dawn was still knocked out and laying peacefully in the bed across the room. From the bruises all over her body and the bandages around her stomach I could tell she had been hurt much worse than me. IV stuck out her arms and her breathing wasn't consistent. Feeling so concerned for her I forced myself to sit up in my bed to get a good look at her.

"Is she okay?" I asked no one in particular hoping someone knew something about her state.

"Who chap?" spoke up Jolt with a confused tone.

Swallowing the lump in my throat I said "The Purrloin... does anyone know if she's okay?"

"I don't know." spoke up Razor " I asked the Clefairy nurse and she said she should be awake soon, but..." he stroked her face with a vine "they weren't sure."

Sighing loudly Ruby butted in "Both of you calm yourselves, I'm sure the little demon'll be fine."

If I wasn't currently incapacitated I would have yelled at the moody Vulpix for a comment like that. Razor let a deep frown onto his face and turned around "Shut up Ruby, I don't care if you have problems with her you don't talk about her like that."

"And you don't have an issue with her Razor... hell I'd think you'd be more angry about what she did than me. It effected you and your family directly." responded Ruby in a sharp , merciless tone.

Razor looked cut deep by the comment in a way I hadn't seen in him yet. A true look of pain that had been dormant erupted from his expression, then anger. "Shut up Ruby, you don't know what your talking about okay."

"How do I not know Razor, what she did directly effected you and your family. Because of her your sister is-"

"Ruby!" yelled Razor with a sudden burst cutting off Ruby. The Vulpix leaned away from him and put a look of surprise on her face that I had never seen before. Apparently she was just as shocked as I was by Razor's jolt of anger. After looking at her with his red eyes he spoke "Ruby I'd like to have a little talk..." he looked over to me "Sorry everyone, we'll be back in a second."

"I don't see what the big de-" started Ruby.

"Come on." said the Bulbasaur walking past Ruby and out of the room. In a way I had never expected Ruby actually followed him in a slightly docile matter... I know, really weird. Silence filled the area as Razor and Ruby walked towards the door to the lobby. As they left Dexter and all of his psychic glory entered the room after them looking back.

"What's wrong with them?" he asked in a voice that I swear was sincere. Seeing the Espeon for the first time since the Asylum I felt different about him. Just two or three days ago he was messing with my mind and trying to make me go insane. Then he was a maniacal maniac, almost bent on simply causing pain for the hell of it. But now the look in his eyes were different, how he talked, how he presented himself was different. I still didn't forgive him for the pain he had caused me, but I got one step closer to being more civil with him.

"I don't know, but I wouldn't get involved." said Vapor shrug "It feels like they're talking about something that is only their business..." she glanced over to Dawn's unconscious form "But I do wonder what that Purrloin did to make Ruby hate her so much.

"Whatever it was it was bad enough to merit, at least in her mind, beating her nearly to death." said Dexter as he walked deeper into the room.

Perking my ears up from this interesting info I was beat to my question by Spark who said "Ruby did what?"

Looking very nonchalant about it the pink feline licked a paw and replied "When our trainers allowed us to roam the city we came across Dawn in a bar. Ruby basically chased the terrified girl down and proceed to beat the crap out of her." he stopped for a moment to think before continuing "In fact, if I hadn't intervened I'm pretty sure Ruby may have done worse than just knock her out."

From my sister's expression of pain and embarrassment I instantly knew this was true. Ruby had shown fits of violence in the past, but this had gone to far. I started to think negative thoughts of how scared Dawn must have been... she's such a gentle soul and to get attacked like that from a crazy fox like Ruby must have been terrifying.

In any case my stress levels started to rise, which is never a good thing anyway, but with my currently weak physical state my body started to slow down. No longer able to generate energy to stand up I let myself lay down. I was totally fine with it too, that bed was frickin' amazing.

"Are you okay brother?" asked to concerned voice of Vapor.

Smiling I nodded "Yeah, just didn't like sitting when I could be laying down..." I stopped for a second "Haven't felt this good in days."

What followed next was an intense silence that I could feel. There was something up, something awkward. A Dolphan in the room if you may and I knew just what it was. Just as I figured after a bit of only the noise of machines Dexter finally broke the silence by saying

"So, what did they do you in there Night?"

* * *

"You do know they are letting you in to see him now right?" said the human with his annoying, but otherwise kind voice "Just go right in of you want to miss leafeon."

Not breaking my ever constant gaze on the Pokemon center recovery room I simply twitched my ears and dug my nose deeper into my bandanna (left it there, I wouldn't want it to get damaged). I wondered if the silent treatment would prevent the well dressed human from trying to talk to me. If it wasn't that it should be the gigantic language barrier then.

Hopefully by now you've figured out that this is Ferne talking. Yeah it's about time I got a little recognition and got to tell the story from my special point of view. I'm sure Night and Requiem have described my to a tee, so I won't waste your time getting into details. I'm a normal leafeon with a red bandanna, with some special attachments that you don't need to know about right now so I'll leave it at that.

The human I was telling you about was a light skinned male, tan jacket and pants with styled, but well kept light blond hair. He almost looked like he was trying too hard to look preppy. He sat next to me on a Pokemon center bench looking at the door to the recovery area just like me.

Why was I not going in to see Night, I can't really tell you. Perhaps I was nervous or scared. Or maybe I didn't want to get too close to this group of Pokemon knowing what the consequences could be. I spent an hour with Night and he got thrown into the Asylum, what would happen if I spend more time with him? I didn't even want to think about it.

After a minute or two of dead silence he spoke up again "You know, I don't think Jack realizes it but you did help save his Pokemon. It's not his fault though, the fellow isn't the sharpest tool in the shed and is just a little mentally not there since the safe return of his Umbreon... but I'm getting of topic love." he leaned in towards me. This was the first time I noticed his light blue eyes and how kind they were. "I want to thank you for what you did leafeon, thank you for getting Night and those other 2 Pokemon out of there." he paused for a moment to smile "I just wish I could call you by your real name to truly recognize you."

I sighed _'Stupid kind humans, they aren't supposed to be this nice.' _I thought as I stood up. Walking over to the main desk I snatched some unimportant looking piece of paper with my mouth and borrowed a pen with my flexible tail. Dropping the paper at the trainer's feet I quickly wrote my name in pen using my tail ( a little skill I had picked up). Once done I tossed the pen back to the desk and picked up the paper for him to read.

"Enre-f?" spoke the human in a confused voice.

Rolling my eyes at his stupidity and my mistake I was caught off guard when he chuckled "Just kidding miss Ferne, that is a lovely name you have yourself there." he pointed at my tail "And quite the interesting skill."

So amazed by how I had just let myself feel almost a connection with this trainer I dropped the piece of paper and by the time it hit the floor a small smile appeared on my face.

_'I wonder if I could... no... I couldn't.' _I looked over to the door that Night was through and thought of how good I felt around him. How when he was there the world didn't seem like such a cold place. Being with Nights seemed to change Requiem so much, I wondered if I could change me. _'Or could I."_

* * *

I crossed my arms and sat in the hallway "I don't get why you're so angry Raze. I was only trying to figure out why you feel the way you do." I struggled top keep myself calm knowing that this was a subject close to his heart. I didn't blame the guy either, I'd be sensitive about it if I were him.

Razor's anger at me was almost intimidating with the way his usually calm eyes blistered with the hot passion of the subject. His breathing and heartbeat seemed to speed up as he started to talk "Really Rubes, you don't know why I'm pissed at you. You know how I feel about this!"

I nodded calmly "Yeah, and I know how Dawn's actions caused this and nothing else."

"What about the criminals, they still would have-"

"Not without her help Raze and you know that. Maybe you can just forget what happened or somehow you can find it in your heart to forgive her but I can't Razor." I replied with a tone.

He shook his head "I haven't forgiven her Ruby, don't think that... its just that I can't bring myself to hate her."

Now it was my turn to get mad "Why? After what she did she deserves all the misery in the world!"

"No she doesn't Ruby, she just did what she thought was needed to save her mother. You can't tell me that if you were in the situation she found herself in that you wouldn't do the same thing." responded Razor.

"I-" I stopped myself as I let the question resonate. The green dinosaur had a good point I'll admit that and I didn't expect such a deep observation to come from him. Razor was surprisingly emotionally deep despite his shallow exterior and it took me that long to figure that out. Rolling my eyes knowing that he did have a point I stopped shuddering and said "Fine, you do have a point. But you can't expect me to just let her off the hook because of something dumb like that. She did what she did and no matter the reason she still ruined many Pokemon's lives."

Razor looked down with an expression of pain written on his face as he said "And you think I haven't thought about that Ruby? Every single day I wonder in I could have done something different. Everyday I wonder if I could talked to Dawn and maybe changed her mind." I saw a droplet of water hit the floor "Everyday I think of my sister..." Razor looked up at me revealing his teary eyes "All the time I wish I could have just had the chance to say goodbye."

Emotion suddenly engulfed me as I looked at the Bulbasaur. I would never say it, but he was my closest friend, my place to lean where I was in trouble, my rock. To see him like that hit me where it hurt knowing that I wasn't the only one that had problems. I let myself go and embraced him in a tight hug hoping to help him through the mental agony. I didn't care about Dawn at that moment, more my parents, or my fur, I just cared about him and making sure he knew I was there.

Feeling his tears on my fur I said with a laugh "Come on you bastard, get it out."

I slowly through a process that took about half a minute I felt his sobs turn to a little bit of laughter. His tears stopped as he started to hug me back "Yeah, I did." he looked up again and I saw the pain was gone and that usual comical glow was back "My sister wouldn't want me to cry over her like this, she'd kill me if I spent time fretting over her."

I smirked "That's the Raze I know, and I am sorry for not getting your feelings about Dawn." I looked back at the door "I'll try not to beat the crap out of her again."

"You what?" yelled Razor with surprise. After my gaze verified my statement he sighed "Yeah okay it can slide, but you need to apologize to her."

I shrugged "Yeah sure I will, as soon as I give her a chance to return the favor."

* * *

"Scarlet I sincerely think you are lying to me." spoke the quite, but strong voice through the video chat. Being the amazingly wealthy Pokemon I am I had the best of the best video display put into my master bedroom.

"Cyrus I think you're over reacting, why in the world would I lie to you." I said in my most convincing voice. At the moment yours truly was sitting in her outstanding master bedroom that was impeccably decorated with a mixture of red, purples and violets that made my room an experience of beauty. A mirror fit for a queen was perfectly incorporated into the wall itself that could be converted into a window and was used so that I could ensure I was in top shape every morning. I sat on my bed, which could easily fit my form 4 times over, that was covered by a myriad of red and purple sheets that were of the utmost comfort. My fine robe was currently not on me so at the moment I found myself in a state of nudity, which I found repulsive. However, when someone as important as Cyrus calls it is a necessity to answer post haste. At least with my flowing blue hair of fire I was presentable from the neck up.

Cyrus raised his chin and let his face show more. His spiky blue hair being his most stark feature his stone cold expression would have scared me if I hadn't seen him before. His pale skin was made more obvious by the fact that the fellow lacked eyebrows and simply used his muscles to frown. From what I could see Cyrus had on his regular suit for Team Galactic and sat in a chair.

"Scarlet, can you tell me how you get information about Team Rocket?" spoke the human with his same soft voice.

I gave a calm smile "Well simple dear, I have an informant that has connections with them."

Cyrus closed his eyes and sighed "Don't call me dear Scarlet, and is that you final answer?"

"Is this a quiz Cyrus, I'm telling you the truth." I replied.

The human leaned forward in his seat "So just to recap, you had nothing to do with the attack on the Cerulean city Asylum that got 20 of my humans and Pokemon detained and 3 of them seriously hurt."

I won't lie to you, I worried a little bit when he said that. Almost as if he knew of my operations. But through that I faked a smile and said "Of course not Cyrus, I would never lie to you."

Looking very satisfied Cyrus leaned back into his chair and nodded "Very well Scarlet, I shall see you later." and with that the call ended.

_'Perhaps Napoleon had a point.' _I thought sitting in my bed _'I should be more careful.' _If Cyrus got knowledge of what I was doing things would get ugly incredibly fast..

* * *

"They put you in a dark type area?" shouted Vapor with worry as I reentered the room after my talk with Razor. He said he wanted to go be with Katherine so I was left to go back in and see how Night was holding up.

The stupid Umbreon nodded from his bed and shrugged "Yeah, it was pretty crazy. Whole large room filled with dark types with this terrible smell. The food was absolute trash too, like eating vomit." Night paused for a moment "In there I met an Alakazam named Alexander that had brought me in... but there was something up with him. When he captured me he said I would die there in this creepy voice, but later on he smiled at me like he was glad to see me."

Jolt raised his brows "Interesting, did you ever think he was just messing with you mate? I mean from what I saw that place was pretty crazy."

Night crossed his arms and appeared to think, perhaps he had figured out how to rub two minuscule brain cells together. "Maybe, I wouldn't put it past him though. Anyway, besides that Lucario you saw about to kill me there was also a Venipede that treated Dawn and I with some amount of respect-"

"You knew Vernai?" suddenly asked Dexter out of nowhere.

Night stared at him like an idiot and said "Yeah... what do you?"

I used this opportunity to step in "We had a little scuffle with her before we met her." I said pointed to the dark marks on my face "The stupid bug sneak attack me"

Once I spoke everyone in the room looked at me like I had just recovered from a mortal wound. Night's red eyes looked into mine with quiet animosity as I felt tension fill the air. Vapor's leer switched between me and her brother like she was worried about something. Even Dexter slightly nodded at me in silence.

"What, did someone fart? What's up?" I asked ending the silence.

"You attacked Dawn?" spoke Night in an angry tone "What's wrong with you?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes not wanting to have that conversation all over again "Yes I did, I just finished talking to Razor about this."

Spark crossed his arms and looked at me with a kind look "You beat her up in an alley, wasn't that a little extreme." from how he spoke I could tell that he was trying to be as non-accusing as possible.

Frowning I continued in my defense "Yes it was and I can see now that I was just working off of pure anger. I lost my self control and attacked her." looking away I continued "I wouldn't expect you to understand the complicated situation that's unfolding right now and I don't want you to. This is something that Razor, Dawn and I need to discus so just butt out okay. I promise you we can handle it."

Night shook his head and responded to my speech with "I don't trust you Ruby. From the few days I've known you you've shown that you are almost impossible to reason with and very impulsive. How do we kn-"

Now very tired of being grilled I gritted my teeth and spoke out "Exactly Night, you don't know me. You've been with me for a little over week okay, so you really don't have that much information about my past. I'm not like you Night. Maybe you are okay with telling everyone about your family and how you feel with them, but I'm not. My life is very complicated and I don't want you knowing about it. Like I said before... Razor, Dawn and I will handle this in a peaceful way and I think you should stay out of it."

Maybe my speech was to much for the stupid dark type to process, or perhaps he was actually thinking about it but either way after a moment or two he sighed and said "Alright Ruby, you're right, not my area." he looked sincere "Sorry."

Shocked by his understanding of the situation I found it hard to no seem impressed. Stammering I said "Oh w-well thank you for your understand-ing." Catching myself I started back up "And appreciate that, all of you." I turned to walk out of the room "I don't say that much."

* * *

Those sheets were just so ridicoulosy comfortable one couldn't help but just dozing off. On moment I was surrounded by my friends and the next I opened my eyes and was looking at the ceiling. Sighing I realized that I had let myself fall asleep and glancing over to a clock I saw it was 2 in the morning.

"Great, all alone again." I said in a low tone.

I felt something move from the other end of the bed as I heard a voice say "About time you woke up."

Shocked by the sudden voice I had to struggle not to fall off the bed from pure surprise. Hoisting myself up I saw who the speaker was and struggled to contain my amazement.

"What are you doing here Ruby?" I asked "And why are you on my bed?"

The pink Vulpix sneered at me "Shut up, do you want to wake up Dawn or the Houndour?" looking around to ensure that both of them were still asleep she continued "We need to talk Night."

I looked at her like she was an idiot "And this couldn't possibly wait until morning?"

As if she expected me to say that she pointed to the clock that I had just looked at and said "Last time I checked 2 am was morning and I couldn't wait."

I frowned and sat up completely "Alright then fine, I'm up now. What is so important that you had to disturb my amazing sleep?"

What Ruby said next nearly made my heart stop. "I know that Arceus is dying and I know what we need to do to stop it." she spoke with a stone cold serious voice that made a chill go through my body. I started to panic a bit as I wondered if I had somehow had a slip and said something. If Azelf found out he was going to kill me, that was super secret information. From what Dexter told me when he was messing with my mind he knew about Azelf and what was wrong with Arceus too and now with Ruby knowing I had let that vital knowledge out.

Ruby raised a paw to calm me, I guess she figured that I would freak "Before you pull a freak out Azelf and Mew told me, so don't be worried about repercussions from them." she sighed "But this is something that I felt you and I needed to talk about."

Quickly settling down from my mini-panic attack I nodded "Good, I've been tired of not being able to talk to anyone about it... even though Dexter knows about it."

Ruby's expression instantly got angry "What! How?"

Putting my gaze on something else I replied with "When he was messing with my brain he told me that he read my mind and found out about everything."

"You're kidding right?" responded the fox with a sharp tone.

I shrugged "I wish I was, I'm not even sure if he's trustworthy so I should go and talk to him about it ASAP."

"Yeah you should." spoke Ruby before sighing again "But that's in the past and we can't change that. Did they tell you about the legendary dogs?"

Negative thoughts of the dangerous legendaries returned as I pictured them in my head "Yes they did, I'm just amazed that they haven't attack us yet."

"I'm not." quickly spoke Ruby "I'm not surprised at all."

Intrigued by Ruby's opinion I pressed on with the subject "Why, if they went as far as to attack Arceus why would the hesitate to take us out?"

"I don't know Night... something just doesn't feel right when it comes to this story, so many things that don't make sense."

"Like what?"

Ruby looked down at the bed sheets and shuffled them around as she spoke "Arceus is the god Pokemon right? And all the legendary Pokemon besides the dogs are with her, so when she was attacked how did she and all of her allies lose to three legendaries. If she is as strong as the tales say then she could have waved a finger and pulverized them... the story isn't right."

I looked at her in confusion "So you're saying Mew and Azelf lied?"

She shook her head "No, I'm just saying that what they told me most likely isn't what actually went down and I think that we are way too deep in matters that I wish never concerned us." she looked at he paws "But Mew did say that I was special and that my fur was a sign of that and for some reason you are important too. And if both of us are special then we gotta be ready for whatever the world can throw at us. We're going to fight in the second gym soon and training is going to get serious." I saw a glint of pride in her eyes "But I'll be ready for it and I hope to Mew you are too Night." she hopped of the bed and made her way to the door leaving me with one thought.

"Because if you aren't, I'm leaving you in the dust."


	58. Rebirth:Departure

Okay guys, I'm really sorry for the month delay between updates I've just been super busy. I had the whole thing written out and my computer crashed and I had to write it all over again.

But enough with that as I have a new question for you that is a little vague. Out of the three main trainers, which one do you think connects to their Pokemon on a personal level the best. Jack, Katherine, or Desmond. I know I haven't done too much with them yet, I just want to see what you think as of now.

* * *

"Dawn."

I opened my eyes in a cold sweat and looked around. Darkness engulfed me from every direction as I struggled to get my barrings. Jumping to my feet I found a bizarre comfort in the blackness, perhaps from my own body feeling better in it's own element. Letting myself relax a little bit I remembered the voice that had awoken me and looked around.

Seeing that I was in the same dream state from before I quickly figured that the ominous voice that I had heard was most likely Darkrai, or the same nightmare.

"You learn fast Purrloin, perhaps there is something special about you..." said the same tone from before.

Turning around I gulped loudly as I faced the legendary. His blue eyes were piecing though the darkness and had a weight to them, as if they were glaring straight through me. I could barley see the rest of his specter-like body , but I could tell that his form looked very light almost like his body itself was lighter than air.

Coming to terms with my fear I forced myself to say "What do you want with me? Why do you keep doing this?"

"Your eye color has changed... I think it fits you better." spoke the ghost like Pokemon with a deep tone completely ignoring my question " The green eyes made you look too fresh and inexperienced, these red ones are much better in my opinion." he thinned out his eyes "They're darker like your life."

My fear started to get backed by the anger I felt in me as I heard him say that. How dare he say my green eyes didn't fit me? "Are you serious... Galactic goes and messes with my genetic makeup and you say I look better? Because of what they did I'm not the Purrloin I used to be, I don't look like my mother anymore!"

"Don't let that worry you Purrloin, what they did to you improved many aspects of your skills." said Darkrai.

Now more furious than ever my fear was nonexistent as I took a step to the legendary "I don't care what it improved alright. It changed me into something I'm not, I'm a monster now!" I felt tears starting to form as I spoke "My body doesn't feel the same and I don't think the same way." I pointed at my chest "My emotions are out of control and I get angry at the drop of a pin. Yeah somethings changed for the good, but the negatives far outweigh them."

Darkrai smiled, he was getting enjoyment out of this "Interesting point of view Dawn, you say you are a different person now... maybe the old you is still in there though." he nodded "I will allow you to wake up now, I'm sure the doctors are worried."

Before I could protest I felt everything go white. Blinking from the intese light I opened my eyes to see the Pokemon center room. Just like that I was taken out of my dream state and plunged into reality. Opening my eyes I was pleased to find myself back in the Pokemon Center in a bed.

"Dawn." spoke a familar male voice from next to me.

Turning to my side I couldn't help but feel a mixture of happiness and shock "Pyro... you're awake." The Houndour stood adjacent to my bed with a soft smile on his hardened face. It was the first time I had seen him outside the Asylum in good light and to tell you the truth he looked much better than I would expect someone who had spent their whole life inside to look.

"Yeah I am, but this time for good." he replied "I've been drifting in and out of consciousness... I realized I was out and saw the sun for the first time." he smiled "A little brighter than I thought it would be." he joked.

"It is, try not to look at it." I responded with a smile.

Pyro looked down as his smile started to fade. From his body language I could tell he was about to say bad news and after a bit of a wait he dropped a bommshell "I'm leaving Dawn, right now."

Shocked by this I had to question his choice "Wh- why? Aren't you still hurt?"

He shook his head "I have the all clear, just got it this morning."

"But what about saying goodbye to Night... you can't just-"

"Dawn I have a lot of things to work out and think about. I just got freedom and I am going to use it. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't care about Night though." he looked back at the sleeping Umbreon. "I just know he'd make a scene and I wouldn't like that." he looked back at me "I'd much rather slip out under the radar."

Feeling my emotions starting to take over I gulped "Pyro..."

The fire hound smiled and leaned in towards me "I've only known you and Night for a few days but I can easily say that you are the most amazing Pokemon I have met in my life. Without you two I'd still be rotting in that hole and I'll forever remember that." he glanced back at the sleeping Umbreon "Tell Night I said not to change and..." he paused to gather his thoughts "Take care of yourself Dawn."

Done with my protesting I nodded and smiled as the Houndour walked out the door. I had no idea where he was going or what he was going to do, but I hoped he would figure that out. He had a chance to have a normal life and that by itself was enough for me.

* * *

"Black I believe I've already told you that I have no intesions to change my views on them." I said with a uncharacteristic impolite tone as I spoke to the black Vulpix. As I said I'm not ussually that rude,but from what he had just said I found it difficult to contain my emotions.

"You've always been hard on them Napoleon, but from the good that you've seen them do I can't see why you don't support them." replied Black in a stark tone.

At the moment me and my quadrupedal acquaintance were meeting in an alleyway near the Vermilion coast. The salty sea air filled my nostrils and pores and left me with a fresh feeling. That good feeling was the only thing keeping me in this needless conversation with Black.

I frowned "We've been over this Black, the resistance movement has been a bad thing." I paused for a moment "Yes they may be making life better for _some _Pokemon, but the way that they're going about it is terrible."

Black raised a brow "And what are they doing Napoleon."

I couldn't help but smirk as I started to talk "Are you kidding me Black, there's no way you havn't seen the recent murders in the area."

"And you're saying the Resistance movement has something to do with it?" questioned the fox "That's a big accusation, would you happen to have proof?"

I frowned, he had me there "No, not yet... but with all the stuff Eric and Zain do behind the scenes there's no way they'll be able to hide all their skeleton's for long."

Black simply rolled his eyes "So you still don't have any proof of the horrible things they are doing... I'm beginning to think this is just a ignorant personal problem Napoleon." he shrugged "But that's not my area, I just wanted to see if you wanted to stop hanging around that Scarlet girl and join the good guys."

That last comment managed to hit a nerve "I'm sorry, you think Scarlet isn't good? What's wrong with her?"

Black raised a paw "Interesting how you accuse Team Resistance of killing without proof, but ignore that you little ex-girlfriend has been playing the deck with Team Rocket and Galactic."

I struggled to contain the blush that came on when he said that, but managed to keep my focus "Scarlet and I discus her life in private. We've known each other since childhood and have a close friendship. But what she is doing isn't endangering lives."

"Oh really Napoleon... what do you think the teams will do when they find out not only that they've been played like a fiddle but that Napoleon arranged the sheet music," Black casually looked away "I'm sure they'll take it as a sign to get rid of a little thorn in their side once and for all."

I crossed my arms and snarled "Is that a threat Black? Even if they came after me I'm not afraid of Claire, she's nothing."

"But you are afraid of White aren't you."

A chill ran down my side as he said that name... he was right, I did fear White. Keeping my composure I replied "White is something I would have to figure out. But I'm sure the teams won't find out." I looked up at the midnight moon " I have to get back home so I'm going to have to cut this short."

Black smiled "Of course, I understand" he said "But seriously Napoleon, think about the Resistance movement. They aren't bad people and they don't kill."

I frown as one thought crossed my mind '_Oh they have, they'll mess up sooner or later.'_

* * *

"You bought the Espeon? Are you kidding me Crystal!" shouted the Pidgeotto.

As expected Ace wasn't too happy to see me with Crystal again, but my intentions were pure. We were in a dirty Cerulean alley as the moon rose in the sky. I had been awoken by the sound of Cystal tapping on a window and went outside to greet her. She asked me if I wanted to help find her trainers and could't resist.

"It's fine Ace, he's here to help us find Amber and Aaron." responded Crystal in a calm voice as she tried to soothe her friend "We can trust him.

"I-" I tried to say but was instantly inturupted by the Pidgeotto.

"How do you know that he isn't working with the police? He could be a soy trying to catch us..." he looked at me "He hasn't even told us his name."

Wanting to prove myself quickly I said "My name is Dexter and I am an Espeon. I have been recently caught and my trainer and his friends are currently staying in the local Pokemon center. We just managed to escape the asylum from a rescue operation, spearheaded by me, and barley made it out alive." I smirked a little "You can trust me, I have a genuine concern for trying to find your trainers."

"Why, you only met them once. What kind of compassion could you have for a couple of Rocker grunts?"

"I saw how well they treated you during that short battle and how the instant they saw how much that electric attack hurt you they ended the battle. Your trainers seemed to have a true sense of empathy for you and didn't want anything bad to happen to you. That really interested me, from what I had heard the Rockets were less than compassionate. If what I think about them is true they deserve to be reunited with their Pokemon." I finished with a nod "I'm just here to help."

Ace looked deeply at me with his piercing eagle-like eyes, it was a little intimidating but my reasons were true and I assume they showed through my expression. "Alright, I believe you, thanks for the help Dexter."

I nodded "No problem, how's about we get looking then?"

"Can't let that happen..."

My spine tingled with the fear that almost rendered me still. Turning quickly to the source of the alleyway I spotted a tall black figure that was only visible because of the silver moonlight. From my experience in Pokemon I saw that it was a Scyther with it's blades crossed. Also it seemed that the Pokemon wasn't wearing an outfit, giving me the impression that it was naturally black.

"You end right now rockets..." said the dark creature bringing it's scythes up to cross over it's face.

Crystal seemed to think the Pokemon was bluffing as she walked in front of me "Who are you... I suggest you get out of here before someone gets hurt."

"I'll allow the Espeon to live if you leave right now... my quarrel is with these monsters." replied the Scyther in a cold tone "Team Rocket will pay for their crimes against the world."

Interesting point of view that bug had, but I stood my ground "Sorry but we really should get going, we have to find so-"

In the time that it took me to blink my eye the Scyther made his way across the 10 feet separating me and him and I barley hat time to move my head back to avoid losing my eyes.

"You have made your decision." said the Scyther.

Suddenly there was a white slash that rushed past me and forced the Scyther to back up. As it slowed down I saw that it was Ace using some sort of attack "And so have you."

A beam of ice came from Crystal without warning, she was trying to catch the Scyther off his feet. But he seemed to be able to parry the beam itself and go for her. In a sequence of attacks and dodges Crystal tried to avoid losing her life. The black ninja swiped at her face and she ducked returned with a scratch attack of her own that he blocked. Using both of his blades to attack the Glaceon she was forced to withdraw back to avoid being disemboweled. But the Scyther refused to let her get back and continued to force her back with each swipe. Soon she would have nowhere to fall back to, it was time for me to make a move.

Gathering up a solid amount of psychic energy I released it in an acute form focused on my enemy. Seeing that he couldn't dodge it the Scyther put his blades in a blocking position and withstood the blast. Trash and debris behind and around him erupted from the sudden gust of wind, but the Scyther was unharmed.

Then Ace made a move. The Pidgeotto used Aerial Ace (Which is were I assume the avian got his name from.) and used it in an effective way. The flying attack that couldn't miss nailed the ninja- like bug type across the abdomen and forced him to stagger. Once off balance Crystal saw this as a perfect opportunity to launch an assault of her own with an ice shard attack. Sharp fragments of ice embedded themselves in the insects carapace with blood seeping through some of the deeper injuries.

Wanting to save the finishing blow for myself with a Confusion attack, my personal favorite. Knowing the damage it could do I understood when the Scyther struggled to even stay on two feet as I continued to attempt to destroy his concentration.

"Enough!" yelled to Pokemon before the battle could really take off "I have underestimated your abilities Rocket, I need more time to prepare."

Ace smirked "You think we're just gonna let you get away... fat chance bug, we finish this now-"

"Breaking News from Cerulean city! Breaking new!." shouted a loud voice. Reacting to it I looked behind me to see that the side of a building had been transformed into a large television screen, impressive technology. On the large screen was a male reporter that look slightly nervous. "Two unrecognizable burnt bodies have been found in a Cerulean city alleyway. Blood and ash were scattered throughout the crime scene. We will have more information as it becomes available."

"Two bodies... you don't think..." started Crystal.

"No of course not Crystal." said Ace getting back on subject "Now we need to get focused this Scythe-" he looked back to the Scyther and was obviously surprised to see him gone "Crap."

I was also amazed at the speed and silence that the bug displayed in his escape, but I managed to refocus and ask "Do any of you know that Scyther, he seemed pretty hellbent on killing you."

Ace turned to me with a look of anger on his face "I don't know Dexter, do you?' he said in a accusatory tone.

"You aren't saying Dexter knew something about this are you Ace?" spoke Crystal "Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"

The bird kept eyeing me as he said "I don't know, it's a little bizarre that within a minute of him showing up that maniac comes and nearly slices us up."

Needing to clear my name I said "I don't have anything to do with that guy alright, I even tried fighting him with you."

"How do I know that wasn't an act, that you've just been trying to get our guard down to kill us?" spoke Ace, his voice getting darker "We are with Team Rocket and I'm sure there are people that wouldn't mind seeing us dead."

"I'm not against you Ace." I said in my most sincere voice.

"Prove it."

"Both of you stop it, your acting like children." said Crystal butting in before things escalated more "We can trust him Ace, I'm sure of it."

The bird rolled his eyes and frowned "Yeah sure... I believe you."

* * *

"He just left?" yelled Night as I told him the news about Pyro "And he didn't even say goodbye?"

I sighed, I knew he would react like this. We were still in the Pokemon center room and it was very early in the morning. He had woken up, saw that Pyro wasn't in this bed and went crazy when I told him that the Houndour just got up and left. "He said he didn't want to make a scene."

The Umbreon sighed and looked down, I could tell he was hurt. I didn't blame him either... Pyro was our friend I think, so why not just stay long enough to say bye to all of us. After a moment Night spoke "I guess he can do whatever he wants to... I just hope he finds a way to live life outside that place."

I gave an enthusiastic smile "I'm sure he will. He's strong Night, I wouldn't worry too much about him."

Night let a slight smile onto his face "Yeah you're right, he'll be okay." he paused for a moment "I just hope we'll be."

Still wanting to keep the conversation as positive as possible I said " You'll be okay Night... you have your trainer and all your friends. You have a good little family going here from what I've observed."

The Umbreon perked his ears up "When have you observed, you've been out cold for the last few days."

"I've been awake every now and then, just not strong enough to open my eyes or talk... but enough on that. I hope you have a good journey Night, you really are a good person." I replied.

"But so are you Dawn... what are you going to do after this?" he asked in a concerned tone.

I sighed, I hadn't thought about that. Could I just go back to lounging around and waiting to drown in my pool of self pity while I try to prolong my suffering? That's not the way a healthy person would want to live. I wanted to be happy, I wanted to have friends like Night that I could fall back on. But once he left I'd be alone again, and I didn't want that.

Despite my uncertainty in my future I managed to smile and I saw "I'll find something, I always have."

* * *

_"So... you're just going to give up on finding us Jane? I'm a little disappointed, I expected more determination from you..."_

I sighed, instantly realizing I was in a dream. I was standing in a dark arena with two shadowy figures talking to me _"I'm not giving up, it's just a little time off to deal with some loose ends."_

The figure that hadn't spoken yet said _"Don't judge her too much brother, she does care for the Umbreon... allow her to have a good time. We are her brothers, but even we get a back-seat to... personal affairs."_

Quickly getting annoyed by the personalities I had made up for them I closed my eyes to avoid my fake brothers. The instant I closed my eyes I felt myself wake up on the cold Pokemon center floor.

"Great... stupid cold floor drive me-" I started to say before realizing that there was a cloth of sorts over me, a warm cloth. After a quick inspection I realized that it was a suit jacket, a tan one.

"This looks like..." I said out loud before turning my attention to my side. Their sitting on the Pokemon center chair was the same human that had talked to me before, Jolt and Vapor's trainer. He slept with a calm look on his face with his arms folded.

I gritted my teeth as I pieced together what must have happened. that jackass must have saw me sleeping and shivering my ass off, took his jacket off and put it on me for comfort. Right then and there I felt a warm sensation in my chest, a feeling that I was being watched out for. I won't lie to you and say I didn't enjoy it, but I knew I couldn't let myself get any closer to this group than I already had. It was too dangerous for them. I made myself a promise that I wouldn't let that human get to me. I could get caught by him, I just couldn't. Wherever I went trouble followed and the last thing I needed was to mess up more lives.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of the main Pokemon center doors opening and was surprised by who I saw entering "Requiem?"

The Espeon snapped to attention like I child getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He looked very tired and a little roughed up, so naturally I was interested in what had happened.

Dexter frowned a little "Jane I told you not to call me that, that's not my name anymore."

I stood up and smiled "Fine then, I'll stop calling you Requiem when you stop calling me Jane and sneaking out in the middle of the night."

He rolled his eyes and said "What I do in my time is my business, I was simply helping a couple of friends."

"What friends Dexter?" I asked trying to pry out as much info as possible.

The Espeon started to walk pass me as he said "People you don't know and don't need to worry about, I suggest you get back to snuggling up with your favorite human's jacket."

"I'm not getting close to him." I said in my defense.

Dexter circled around before falling into a resting state "I never said you were..."

Catching what he had made me do I frowned "Goodnight _Requiem._"

The Espeon simply smiled "Goodnight Jane."


	59. Rebirth: The Dusk of Dawn

Ugg... guys I'm really sorry for the short chapter this time around. I've just been super busy and really preoccpied. I made the choice to update this now and not delay it any longer. I'd rather have a steadier stream of shorter chapters than one mediem sized one a month.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"So Night, the nurse just said that you're good to go!" spoke Spark in a peppy tone as he jumped on my bed "Only a 4 day recovery time, not too bad."

I sighed, it was difficult to believe that I had spent only a few says in that Pokemon center. Being asleep for about half the time I was there it had only felt like on big long dream. "Yeah, yeah... I'm just gonna miss these sheets."

The Pikachu smirked and crossed his arms "Why?"

I stroked the lovley blankets with longing "They're just so amazing Spark... like sleeping in lotion."

Spark gave me a blank stare "Lotion... seriously what did they do to you in there..." he said with a laugh before looking over to Dawn "Oh and ... Dawn was it?"

The Purrloin jolted up at the mention of her name and from what it looked like she was just sitting in her bed in deep though. She turned to Spark with a smile "Oh... you know my name?"

Spark nodded "Of course, you've been around for a few days so I've picked you're name up... but anyway. The nurse said you are getting better, but they just need to do a few more test on you before you're good to go."

Dawn looked down slightly before replying "Thank you... Spark." he shuffled her paws around in the sheets "That's really good to hear." From her tone I could instantly tell something was up with her, but aparently Spark couldn't and just looked back at me.

"Since you're up and at 'em again Jack, Des and Katherine thought that we should have a training session, you know, for the gym battle."

Up to that point I hadn't really realized that I hadn't trained at all with jack or the others. We'd just been strolling though and taking whatever comes without experience. In fact in the week I had spent with them I had only taken part in four or five battles and in half of those I either had no idea what was going on, or blacked out. Once Spark told me about the training session I was excited to test out some of my skills. Like Ruby had told me before, she was going to leave me behind if I couldn't keep up and there was no way I was letting myself get surpassed by some fox.

* * *

"Alright I guess we should get going Spark." said Night looking better than ever. His injuries from the Asylum were not as critical as mine and with the recovery time he had the Umbreon was in top shape. His eyes had regained the shine that I had seen in them when I first met him and I saw him smile, it made me feel good.

"Okay Dawn, I guess I'll see you later?" spoke Night looked back to me.

Hiding my emotions I put a fake smile of my face to not look saddened. "Yeah, have a good training session."

As the two friends left I felt a strong feeling of loneliness come over me , almost like the life left the room. Everything went perfectly quiet as the morning sun shined through the windows mocking me with it's light. It was like my life... no matter how hard I try to pry myself out of the darkness and the sadness to reach the light something always stopped me. Ever since I had to leave Pallet town because of the incident nothing has felt good. Sulking in my depression in Cerulean city surviving off leftover cash I just let two years pass without doing anything, without feeling anything.

But then I was put into the Asylum and for the first time in more that two years I felt alive and cared for. Pyro and Night were complete strangers, but had treated me with respect and kindness. It was good being around them.

"Um, excuse me..."

I jolted up in the bed to look at the speaker and was not expecting who it was. Poking her head through the Pokemon center door was a vaguely familiar human girl. Her long brown hair fell mostly behind her ears with a few strands falling in front of her face. As she stepped in the room I saw that she was wearing a white and beige shirt with a small jacket that went about half way down her torso. At her waist their was a white belt that was followed by white pants. Her face had a calm kindness in it, almost like Pyro but more expressive.

The human caught me scanning her and smiled "I guess you remember me too, or maybe not." She approached me a little bit more and motioned at the bed "Is it okay if I sit down?"

I gave an uneasy nod and let her sit at my feet. The human girl smiled "Before I start talking I just want to make sure..." she paused for a second to get serious "You are a Purrloin from Pallet town named Dawn, right?"

The literal moment she said that I felt the memory of her face hit me hard, I remembered her. She was a human from Pallet that I had seen around... it think her name was Katherine or Katrina, something like that. Quickly nodding I looked down slightly afraid of the conversation she was going to have with me.

"Don't be afraid of me judging you Dawn, I won't. I know the only reason that you did it was to help your mother and I completely understand that." said Katherine.

Looking back up into her brown eyes I was amazed that she knew my reasoning. So shocked by her empathy I said "How did you know?" knowing fully that she had no way of understanding me.

"It's okay Dawn, but that's not why I'm here." spoke Katherine in that same kind tone "I'm here because I..." she stopped talking for a moment as I felt her hands grip the sheets and sigh. "I want you to join my team."

I don't know why and I still cannot explain it, but when Katherine said that a harm feeling gripped my heart. So surpised by the question I had to force myself not to just jump up and say yes. However, before I even got the chance to reply Katherine raised a hand "You don't have to answer now, just think about it. I have to go train now, but I'll come and see you later."

Slightly disappointed I still managed to put a smile on my face as she left. Maybe I could have happiness, maybe I could get to the light.

* * *

"Mother there's no reason for you to worry about me." I said in as polite a tone possible while hiding my annoyance in the current conversation "I have it covered."

My mother, a Rapidash adorned in the best of clothing, was on the other end of the video call. Her firiey red mane flowed smoothly and her crimson eyes glared into my blue ones as she spoke "All I want is for my daughter to tell me what is going on in her life, I worry about you dear."

"There's no need for you to do that mother, I'm grown and can handle my own affairs. I've told you everything I can about my life so stop fretting." I replied with a slightly angry tone.

My mother sighed "Napoleon called me and asked me if I knew anything, even he is worried for you Scarlet. Please, I don't want you getting into any trouble."

Napoleon had constantly poked his head into my affairs in the past, but up to that moment I was fine with it. However with telling my mother the Snivy had managed to break the bond of trust he had forged with me. I was done with him, I was done with the constant critisism, and I was done with my mother.

"Please Scarlet answ-"

"I'm sorry I'm not so enthusiastic about you calling me mother, seeing that you havn't even talked to me in months. I'm sure you have better things to do than sit here and waste your valuable time talking with your no-nothing daughter. So please allow me to stop wasting your time and mine. Goodbye." and with that I pressed the button to end the call.

I know, I know, that was an incredibly cold thing to do to the being that brought you life... but I can assure you that if you knew all the things I had seen her do you'd understand my choice. She was a demon, a wolf in sheep's clothing... and I was nothing better. She had lived her life in lies and I was following down the same path.

Betraying for a living is not a good way to live.

"Well," I said to myself in the solitude of my penthouse "I should get dressed and out of these robes."

Walking into my bedroom I sighed as I thought about the vital decision of what I should wear. When you are in the public eye all the time it is important to dress as a lady should and try your best not to appear sluttish. Shifting through the outfit's I had prepared in my walk-in closet I managed to narrow my choices down to two outfits.

One had a very Autumn theme, which did fit the season. It was a body gripping reddish top with a yellowish collar similar to Napoleon's natural collar all Snivy's are born with. For a bottom there was a orange skirt that went down about half the length of my fire tail. The design of the outfit overall was very good, but the whole orange color pallet would make me look like a red and blue blob. The second was a more modern outfit as it had a muted blue throughout. The top was comprised of a gray undershirt with a grayish blue suit jacket over it that followed my form instead of gravity (All of my cloths must be like this as gravity would make all my clothing look sloppy, which is unacceptable.) To me the thing that brought the outfit over the top was the outstandingly beautiful gray scarf that could be wrapped around the neck or simply left to hang off both of my shoulders.

Outfit one vs outfit two... two wins by a landslide.


	60. Rebirth: Queen takes Rook

Okay not a super long chapter, but it's of understandable length. For this chapter I'm gonna bring back a question from a few chapters ago (Like I said I would)

Do you think Scarlet is a good person?

This will also be on my profile, so be sure to vote it up there. Oh and I added little indicators so that people won't get confused with the Point of View anymore (I've gotten several complains about this so I fixed it.)

* * *

Nights' Point of View

* * *

The cool late autum wind flowed through the trees as the mid day sun shown high in the sky. It being the first time I stepped foot outside in half a week I actually didn't mind the light all too much. It felt good to be able to move around freely again and from what I had heard about what we were going to do I was raring to test my body's limits.

"Okay so..." started Desmond clasping his hands together "How's this spot?"

At the moment we were in a Cerulean city park that was located about 2 blocks from the Pokemon center. Despite the sessions changing from fall to winter the grass was still relevantly green with only a few patches of dying foliage. The trees were in their full fall bloom and there wasn't a green leaf in sight. Trees that had somehow managed to keep the majority of leaves had a red, orange and yellow fauna to them. In the strong wind leaves that hadn't been strong enough to hold on were thrust through the air, some making miniature tornadoes before settling to the ground. Around us were several families that must've been taking advantage of some of the last days of moderate weather doing various activities from picnicking to playing stupid games with balls (Never understood you human's want to play with balls, it's so bizarre.)

"Looks good, yeah I'm fine with it..." replied Jack quickly putting his hands in his pockets.

Kat smiled wide and put a hand on her hips "Perfect we found a spot now all we have to do is train." she glanced at Jack "And maybe we can get in a little rematch."

Jack chuckled " A rematch Katherine, alright your on."

"You two battled? When?" questioned Desmond now looking fascinated.

Kat knelt down next to Ruby and stoked her head (Something Ruby seemed super surprised by) "Back when we first met in the Viridian forest Jack and I had a little disagreement that we thought should be settled."

"And what was this argument Jacky boy?" asked Desmond.

My trainer sighed and quickly said " She got mad because I said white was her color and it spun way out of control."

"That's the really dubbed down version, but yeah I can agree with that." said Katherine standing back up "We had a battle, but it ended with a tie... I promise you with one won't."

"We'll see about that Katherine. So same rules as last time?" replied Jack.

Katherine crossed her arms "Sure, two on two double battle." she looked down at her Pokemon "I of course am going to have Razor and Ruby."

Ruby, similar to our first battle, looked ready to go and similar to our first battle she glared right at me. She had been waiting for this since Pewter city and now she would finally get the chance to get her ass kicked again. Razor on the other hand just looked happy to get into a scrap again.

Jack looked down at me "Night, since you've been in bed for a while I think this should be a good chance to get back in the grove of things."

I shrugged "Sure, whateves."

"And Dexter.." spoke Jack.

Looking over to the Espeon I saw he was reclined in the sun about 5 feet away from us. Before that moment I'm sure he was taking a sun bath, but similar to when I nap Jack woke him up without hesitation "I've never had to pleasure of partnering with you in a battle so how's about you help me out with this one?"

Dexter yawned and stood up "Fine, I've been looking forward to really test myself." he looked over to Razor and Ruby "Good luck you two."

Ruby rolled her eyes and Razor waved with enthusiasm and replied with "You too!."

"Are you ready for this Night?" asked Spark standing right next to me "You did just get cleared this morning, I could always step in for you."

"No thanks bud," I smirked "I got this."

As we got into our battle positions some of the families stopped what they were doing to watch. No matter how small it was a Pokemon battle always got a lot of attention. Kids started to pick sides and parents analyzed the trainers. Pretty quickly a crowd of about twenty people had surrounded us waiting for the battle to commence. It was the biggest audience I had ever had, and all it did was make me more pumped for the fight.

"No! The Umbreon's gonna win 'cus they're the coolest Pokemon!" I heard one kid yell to another.

Letting my arrogance seep into the very ground I stood on I let my grin grow wider, he was right.

I am the coolest Pokemon.

"Night dodge!"

Snapping out my dream state I was greeted by a thick vine slapping me in the face. Staggering from the blow I let my ego shrink back to it's normal bloated size. This was a battle against competent opponents, goofing off was going to make me lose.

"Stay focused Night; Dexter good dodge." spoke Jack getting into the feel of battle again.

Kat smirked "What's wrong Jack, a little rusty? Razor, razor leaf both of them and Ruby ember at Dexter."

Slightly offended that Kat didn't think I was worth a direct attack I didn't pay attention to Jack's clear command to dodge. Thinking that I could do what I did the first time we fought I started to charge a quick shadow ball. Dexter managed to avoid the cloud of leaves, but was singed by the ember attack. As it came for me I let loose that ball of shadow energy and expected it to do what it always did. Unfortunately when I let it go, the shadowy blob simple sunk to the ground and collasped in on itself, which makes it explode. Leftover dark matter splashed all over my lower legs and paws. It being my own ghost type attack I didn't even feel it, but what I did feel was the barrage of sharp little demon leaves scratch me up.

"Ow!" I yelled in an annoyed voice as I shook off the blow "The heck dude?"

Razor smirked "I told you before Night, my razor leaf's a dozy."

"Come on Night get serious!" yelled Jack, not sounding too pleased with my performance so far "Okay, time to fight back. Night, charge at Ruby. Dexter charge at Razor, go!"

Realizing that my only chance of not getting beat was listening to Jack I followed his order. Running across the ten or so feet separating me from Ruby I realized how much faster Dexter was then me. He was tearing up the ground and before I was even half way there the Espeon had gotten within stricking range of Razor.

"Razor dodge!" yelled Katherine.

The bulbasuar sidestepped slightly and let Dexter run next to him.

Jack laughed for a second and said "Dexter use Psychic close range!"

Still charging but putting my attention on Dexter and Razor all I saw was a quick purplish flash and an unseen force push Razor back at high speeds. The grass around Dexter blew back from the shock wave of the attack and the crowd of humans had to move out of the way to allow Razor's form to tumble pass. Grunting the Bulbasaur landed on his belly with a grimace on his face. Him being half poison type that psychic attack must've killed.

Quickly getting back to my own attack I was pleased to see that Ruby was distracted by Razor's injury. Still charging at her I charged up a small amount of dark energy and spearheaded the unsuspecting fox. Screaming in pain Ruby was flung back by my attack. She hit the ground and rolled a couple of feet before settling on her side with her back to me.

Katherine looked less than pleased "Razor, Rubes... you guys alright?"

Looking over I noticed that Razor had recovered and was standing back up. This being a more freindly battle Dexter allowed him to get back to his feet.

"Ruby return Night's headbutt!" I heard Katherine yell.

Catching it instantly I ducked from pure instinct and felt Ruby's form sail over my head. Taking advantage of her mistake I thrust my head up into her gut sending her flipping through the air and landing a few inches from Dexter.

"Nice move Night! Dexter-" started Jack.

"Razor, hold Dexter in place with your vines." interrupted Kat.

Razor was within a few feet of Dexter making it near impossible for him to move out of the way. Before the feline could blink two vines were wrapped tightly around his torso and Ruby was already standing back up.

Without even stopping to hear what Jack wanted me to do I instantly acted. Jumpping at Ruby I landed on her perfectly with my paws pinning her slightly small form to the ground. Having already been hurt before her stamina was pretty low and I gained the advantage quickly.

Looking up to see how Dexter was fairing I was disheartened to see him on the ground squirming with Razor standing over him with his vines still wrapped around the Espeon.

Suddenly Ruby jutted her head up, which smacked me hard in the nose and stunned be pretty bad. Losing my concentration I let Ruby slip out of my grasp and stand back up.

I heard Razor scream again and looked past Ruby to see the Bulbasaur getting back up from what looked like a second Psychic attack from Dexter. This second one seemed to have really hit the half poison type where it hurt, he didn't look like he could take that much more. To tell you the truth my stamina was already well exhausted from the few attacks I launched. Panting hard I glared into Ruby's eyes, despite by tiredness I was determined to fight until I went down.

Luckily for me Jack noticed my state and said "Umm..." started Jack looking at the situation that had unfolded "Looks like we can call this one a draw?"

Katherine chuckled and replied "Yeah I guess... good battle." She looked over at Razor who sighed in relief.

"What, that's it?" almost yelled Ruby. She snarled and said "You got a couple of cheap shots on me, I'll give you that... but this still doesn't count as a rematch."

Smirking I replied "Cool, I'm fine with that. I hadn't even warmed up yet, maybe we can have a true Pokemon to Pokemon one on one without trainers."

Matching my smile the fox responded "Before we leave Cerulean? Agreed." she put her paw in a shaking positon.

I grasped my paw with hers and shook "Agreed."

* * *

Scarlet's Point of View

* * *

"Hmm, not to bad looking today Scarlet. Maybe there are still some heads to turn." I said to myself looking in the mirror. The Blueish gray outfit had worked out better than I had thought. I actually looked like someone that made a good living doing legal things... not too bad. My blue eyes went surprisingly well with the gray scarf and with the way my fiery mane ran down my head I was superbly satisfied with how I looked.

I sighed and walked away from the mirror, I needed to get going. Having spent the last few days held up in my penthouse I needed to stretch my legs, wouldn't want to gain weight.

I had just made it out of my room and into the main foyer (Living room for those who are not as well versed) when I noticed something was amiss. At first I coudn't put my finger on it but quickly I noticed that the widow door to my balcony was wide open.

I laughed at myself,_ 'I could've swarn I closed that, must have a lot on my mind.' _I thought as I made my way over to the doors _'I really need to calm down, Galactic and Rocket aren't on to me and with this last event I'm getting out of the buisness. I just need to relax and enjoy my life.' _

The literal moment I closed the door I felt a sharp pain in my hind legs and something grab me from the neck. With a strong pull the paw around my neck pulled my head up then down with my body following. My head hit the ground with a thud and pain shot down my back. Before I knew it a paw whacked me hard in the nose and dazed me. With my vison now blurry I felt a cold metal go and touch my throat.

"Don't kill her Claire." spoke a calm male voice in the room "That wouldn't be too smart would it?"

Struggling to regain my focus I felt the cold blade leave my neck "Fine, your lucky you get to call the shots for this one. If your little asylum hadn't been attacked maybe I'd be able to have free reign here." said an angry female voice.

"Perhaps, but you don't." I heard a figure stand up from a chair and slowly walk over to me. With my vision still blurry I saw a white figure appear over me. As the seconds went by my brain regained the ability to sharpen my sight and my vision came back. Over me I could now see that a Meowth with a white suit jacket and slacks stood over me. On his waist I saw a thin, sharp black blade that he held with one hand on the hilt.

Once he saw me actually look at him the Meowth smiled "Sorry about the violent way my associate here attacked you, that was rather unnecessary." He knelt down and continued "Now would be ever be so kind to call up your friend Napoleon, I think we have some business to discus with the both of you."

Still very shocked at the events that had happened to me my lip quivered as I asked "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

I heard the female voice from before scoff "Are you serious bitch? You've been playing both sides for as long as you have and you try to play innocent, won't work this time Scarlet baby. You think calling yourself "The Rook" to everyone else but Giovanni and Cyrus would protect your identity?"

I started to get scared but still denied everything "I'm sorry I still don't-"

Suddenly a Pikachu in a black skin-suit appeared over me. On her chest there was a red R and on her face was a glare that could kill "I'm with Team Rocket," the mouse pointed to the Meowth "And he's with Galactic... you pissed off some big players with the stunt you've been pulling ponyta, it's about time your past caught up with you."

I felt myself seize up in terror, it had finally happened... they had come to get me. I had been fooling them for months now, getting information and giving it to the other side in exchange for information I'd give the the next side. Napoleon was right, I should've stopped while I had the chance. But now I was in too deep and I knew too much.

"Now please Scarlet" spoke the Meowth again "Please get Napoleon over here, we have important things to talk about.


	61. Rebirth: A Leafeon's Crossroads

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with how this chapter came out. A lot of things in this one, so I hope you enjoy it. Also I got an anonymous review that chapter, so I'd like to thank that person for their input!

Two new questions as well (One that will make sense once you read the chapter) What do you think Napoleon, Claire, Jane, Black, and White did in their past together? This is more of just a fun question as I doubt any of you will have to right answer (and if you do... well let's not talk about that) And who do you think Ferne/Jane's brothers are.

And as I little entertainment add-on I found this song youtube .com/watch?v=xoXo36YNQ2U (without the space between youtube and .com) called "Diary of Jane" by Breaking Benjamin and I hear by claim it as Ferne/Jane's theme song.

Anywho, enjoy!

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

Walking through the main lobby of Scarlet's penthouse complex I tried my best to hide the fact that I was very worried about her. She had just called me in a scared urgent voice, as if she felt she was in immediate danger. The main lobby is always very well kept and clean but me being slightly famous I made it my duty to avoid anyone that wanted to talk to me. As I approached the front desk I cloaked my worry with skill and called over the Pokemon receptionist. A well-mannered Skitty came over with a smile on her face.

"Hello Mr. Napoleon, are you here to see Ms. Scarlet?" he asked with a polite and calm voice.

Still a paranoid I tried my best to stay cordial to the feline "Yes I am, can you please tell her I'm on my way?"

The Skitty nodded and replied "Of course sir, just wait right here for a moment. Let me just call her up." The feline walked over to a terminal of sorts and started to press in several buttons that I really didn't care about. After a second or two the Skitty raised a paw to the earpeice in her right ear and started to talk.

"Excuse me, Ms. Scarlet. Napoleon is here to see you... you invited him over? Send him up, okay Ms. have a good day." The Skitty turned to me "She said it's okay; you remember where her penthouse is correct?"

Already starting to walk past the desk I said "Yes I do, I come here all the time."

As I was about to step into the elevator, which was adjacent to the reception desk, I heard the Skitty reply "Sorry sir, it's just policy."

Going up in the elevator I was alone and free to torture myself by thinking of the situation that Scarlet was in at that moment. Team Galactic and Team Rocket are not organizations that you want to cross openly, they react and terminate you without prejudiced. But to get close to them and give them information, making them think you were trustworthy, just for them to find out you betrayed them for the highest bidder... I couldn't imagine the way Rocket or Galactic would react.

The higher the elevator went the higher my level of stress went. By the time I had reached Scarlet's floor I was almost a nervous wreck. Stepping out onto the floor I forced myself to calm down and get in the moment, Scarlet was probably feeling worse I needed to be level-headed for her.

Walking up to her door I started to knock calmly. After a few moments I heard the Ponyta's voice ring out from behind the door "Come in Napoleon, it's unlocked."

Twisting the doorknob I couldn't help but feeling something was up, Scarlet always insisted on opening the door for guest, she said her parents taught her that. Bushing it off I stepped into the opening foyer. The moment I entered I felt bizarre, I felt more than one other presence in the room but like before I bushed it off and didn't think about it.

Standing across the room from me was Scarlet with an intensity worried look on her face, she was scared at something.

"Scarlet, what's wrong.?" I almost demanded out of worry "What's going on?" I took a step at her.

Scarlet was shaking so bad she shuddered when she said " I-I'm so s-sorry..."

"What?" I replied barley hearing her.

"They were going to... please forgive me Napoleon dear." she said in a solemn tone.

"I'm sure he will Ponyta" spoke Claire's from behind Scarlet. Almost like she planned it the Pikachu came out from behind Scarlet with a malicious smile on her face and a dagger up to Scarlet's head "Good to see you again Napoleon, it's been too long."

The moment I saw Claire I knew the gig was up, Team Rocket knew what was going on. Instincts active I reached for my dagger. In a fight I knew I could take Claire one on one. But before my hand could reach the handle for my dagger I felt cold metal stop my hand.

"Can't let you do that Napoleon, you're amazingly dangerous with a weapon." said a male voice from behind me.

Cloaking my fear I sighed to calm myself "White... since when have you been working with Claire?"

Circling around, but always keeping his onyx sword pointed at me, White responded with "Only for this operation and when I found out you were involved, well I couldn't resist having a mini reunion."

"Yeah," I said "It's too bad Jane and Black aren't here, could have had a nice time." I kept my glare on White as I talked.

"How long has it been, about five years?" asked Claire "It doesn't matter, we have things to get to... isn't that right Ms. Rook." she looked at Scarlet with a scary look in her eyes.

Scarlet was still shaking visibly and closed her eyes as she felt the cold chill of Claire's breath go down her back. I had to resist the strong urge to confront the Pikachu on it seeing that she was a flinch away from killing Scarlet.

"So Napoleon, you know why we're here I assume." spoke White now in front of me with his sword pointed at my neck. His fresh white clothing shined in the sunlight and bounced off his sharp black sword . Even I could admit his style was impressive and with his attention focused on me I had to keep my cool and disguise my fear.

"Yes I do... are you angry that I didn't come to either of you with the situation?" I asked still keeping my stone cold stare on him.

The Meowth smirked and let go a small laugh " Not really, but I'm sure Rocket and Galactic would've appreciated it. Right now however we are in a weird situation. Mistress Scarlet here has made a few bad choices in the last few months." I saw Scarlet wince a bit when White referred to her as a 'mistress' "My boss says that we should let her go with a warning this time, but Claire's boss on the other hand..."

"Giovanni said to quote 'Do what you see fit' and to 'Work well with the Team Galactic operative'..." added Claire "If it was just me know that you would have walked in to find your little girlfriend dead or dying, so understand that I'm not to thrilled by what White wants."

I smirked "What's wrong Claire, don't like not being control of every mission... that is like you."

The Pikachu in the black suit snarled "Don't get me riled up Napoleon. Both our organizations met and agreed that since Galactic had lost a base in a Team Rocket attack they should be the ones to decide what happens to the mole. Like I said before your little pony is lucky White's here."

"I am... thank you for being understanding White, I'm glad you thought this..." I started to say before the Meowth interrupted.

"Don't think this is because of kindness for a moment Napoleon, this is for our reputation. We want people in this region that do know about us to know we aren't team rocket and even when you go against us there are ways to get back into our good graces. Ms. Scarlet here screwed up big time and will need to do some big work for us if she wishes to not be on our hit list." spoke White, slightly lowering his sword knowing that there was no chance of me trying anything.

Now glad that Scarlet would have still have some chance at living a normal life I asked "And what kind of work would this be?"

White smiled and turned to Scarlet who quickly snapped to attention in fear "Are you ready for your assignment ms?"

Scarlet politely nodded "Of course White darling, what do you need me to do?" I was surprised by how well she had regained her composure in only a few minutes. I guess I had rubbed off on her more than I thought.

"Cyrus wants you to help us find an very important Purrloin, your most likely have seen her on the news. She was one of the three Pokemon that escaped from the Asylum." said White.

"What's so important about her?" asked Scarlet.

"All I can tell you is that she has... something of ours that we lost in the Asylum and it would be great if we could get it back." said White. "All we know about her is that she was seen escaping with an caught Umbreon along with several other owned Pokemon."

"What's the Umbreon's name? I asked knowing that I'd be involved with this little plan.

White chuckled a bit before saying "In the computer records we recovered the system had him down as what we think is a placeholder name of sorts... aparently we had the Umbreon down-"

"As Night."

Both Scarlet and I looked at each other with determination and nodded slightly, we would get this done.

"Don't worry dear, Napoleon and I can handle this." said Scarlet in a persuasive tone

"I'm sure you can..." piped in Claire walking away from Scarlet "Are we done here White, because the less time I spent with the likes of Team Galactic the better I'll be able to live with myself."

White sheathed his sword "Yes, we are done here Claire. Good seeing you again too."

The Pikachu snarled and turned to me "You got lucky today Napoleon, know that. Next time you and your little primma donna here piss of the Rockets don't expect to see the mercy granted to you today. If you screw up again I promise you death will come for you." and with that the Pikachu jumped off the balcony and left in the blur of a quick attack.

"Goodbye White that's for the opportunity." I said sincerely.

White nodded "Take advantage of it, I'd hate to have to come here on a darker mission." Unlike Claire, White simply walked out the front door and left without a scene.

Confident that we were alone now I rushed over to Scarlet, who promptly fell into my arms with a stressed sigh. Knowing she had come dangerously close to reaching her breaking point I brought her body closer to mine in a comforting embrace. Her face fell into my chest, where it stayed for few seconds before she rose her head to talk to me.

"I thought they were going to kill me..." Her sapphire eyes glimmered to warm me of the swarm of tears and emotion that was about to come "I had to tell you to come, they made me... I'm to sorry dear."

Giving a true smile I replied "It's okay, I would've done the same thing in your position."

The first teardrop escaped her eyes "How are we going to find this Purrlion... it could be anywhere in Kanto by now. They're going to come back and we won't have any information and-"

"Stop thinking like that, okay Scarlet. We just have to hope the Purrloin is traveling with this 'Night' fellow and then wait for their trainer to come here. Most new trainers who come to this city can't resist the urge to challenge me. I'll scope out a few humans and hopefully I'll be able to find them." I said in a calming voice "We can do this Scarlet and the moment we find out where this Purrloin is all our troubles will be over.

* * *

Ferne's Point of View

* * *

_'What the hell are you doing Jane, this is so self-serving and selfish... I'm a little disappointed in you.'_ spoke one of the voices of my brothers I had made up in my head.

_'I agree, this is an immature choice sister... how are you going to find us if you're serving some stupid human?'_ spoke the other voice

"Both of you shut up." I whispered to myself "It's my life and I can do whatever I like."

_'Yes you can, but have you thought about the danger that could come if you start traveling with this group. Just saying hello to Night got him thrown into the Asylum-'_

"And Requiem and I with the help of the others got him out... whatever Galactic can throw at me I know I can handle it" And with that the voices in my head stopped and I was free to continue on with what I was about to do.

Walking though the Cerulean city park I was hellbent on finding Night's group and joining them. Over the last several hours I had been torturing myself with a decision that would most likely effect my life for the long term. I had thought of countless scenarios that could happen if I let myself become a part of their little family. In the end the positives outweighed the negatives and I made the choice to join them on their quest

With my bandanna wrapped around my neck and my blades sheathed I padded though the area searching for them. Being a Leafeon my smell wasn't so strong, but with my better than average speed I could comb an entire area in seconds flat.

"There." I said to myself upon spotting the group. They were about 20 meters from me and from the looks of it a battle had just happened. The black haired human male was walking over to Requiem and Night while the female talked with Ruby and Razor. On the sidelines was the person that I hoped would except me, the human male with the golden blond hair. Around them was a steadily thinning crowd of families that looked impressed.

Single-minded on my task I made my way to the group without much of a plan. I had told myself everything would work out in the end so I simply kept going.

Suddenly without warning the blond haired boy turned around and caught sight of me. Knowing it would be impossible to avoid his detection I stood there frozen in surprise. His light blue eyes met mine and for a moment we just stared at each other.

"Oh, what are you doing here Ferne?" he asked with a kind tone. Everyone there looked at me just standing there looking awkward. Unable to think of anything else to do I just continued to look at him.

He completely turned to look at me "What's wrong... is there something on my face?" he said with a laugh. I let my face get stern and motioned with my head at his belt.

Unclipping a poke-ball he looked at it "You want this, why would..." he paused for a moment "Do you want me to catch you?"

Taking a step at him I nodded and got into a fighting stance "Yes I do."

"Really Ferne, you want to join us?" asked Night, trying and failing to hide his enthusiasm.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Requiem glaring at me, aparently he didn't see this comming. He didn't expect me to do this, but he dosen't know everything.

"Desmond, you really must've rubbed off on this Leafeon... I at least hope you can catch her." spoke the other male human standing next to the blonde one.

"Don't worry Jack, I think Jolt can handle it." he looked down at the Jolteon "You up mate?"

"Of course, I'm sure she'll be a good challenge, let's get it started." spoke the canine.

Within minutes the crowd of people that had been dispersing after the end of the last battle had regrouped around the site of the next. In the middle of this stood Jolt and I with about 1o feet separating us and Desmond ready to give commands to his loyal Jolteon. Within the crowd also stood Night and the others ready to root of whoever they pleased.

"You ready for this Ferne?" asked Desmond in his British drawl.

Nodding I was confident I would at least be able to put up a fight, even if this would be my first true Pokemon battle in a while.

"Okay then, Jolt start off with a quick-attack!" yelled Desmond as he pointed at me.

Getting into a battle stance I didn't expect the Jolteon to move as fast as he did. Within the blink of an eye the electric eeveelution was within stricking distance and I had to something fast. Letting my base instincts take over I sidestepped the attack and let loose a razor leaf at the Jolteon. Just as I thought the leaves did as they were supposed to do and and scratched up Jolt.

"Come on Jolt, focus up man!" yelled Spark from the sidelines, he obviously wanted his friend to win.

Letting myself get distracted by Sparks' input I found it impossible to see another quick attack coming and since the Jolteon was much closer that time I had to time to move. The attack hit me like a bee sting, not so strong but concentrated. Tumbling to the floor I heard the crowd cheer, apparently they were against me too.

"Good move Jolt, now use thundershock!" spoke Desmond.

Just barley having enough time to get up I felt a surge of electricity hit me. All the muscles in my body tensed up and my teeth clenched from the pain and heat. When it passed I felt my muscles slowly loosen, I would have to watch out for attacks like that in the future.

With the crowd on his side Desmond made a mistake and said "Nice one Jolt, now use another quick attack!"

I smirked and quickly dug my paws into the ground and picked up a sizable plump of dirt in a sand-attack motion. Unable to stop himself Jolt rushed through the cloud and loss his concentration. Taking advantage of it I raised an arm and jabbed him in the jaw as he flew pass me. Landing a few feet from me the Jolteon looked more dazed that hurt.

"Nice one Ferne." spoke Dexter with calm support.

Frowning Desmond said "Refocus Jolt and use a thunderbolt!"

Preparing for a juiced up thundershock I was surprised when I felt a white hot pain erupt from my back. Screaming in pain I felt the electric shock make it's way though my body and out through my feet. My whole body tensed up and I fell limp to the floor unable to make my muscles respond. Cursing to myself I felt the battle coming to a close.

"Good Job Jolt, now finish this with an old fashion tackle."

Hearing Jolt's steps come at me, I closed my eyes and struggled to make my body move again, but nothing would budge. Resigned into defeat I waited for it to come.

_'Dissapointing, you give up so easily sister... fight back.'_ spoke one of the voices of my brothers _'This is no way to lose a battle, unless you just aren't strong enough.'_

Wanting to prove the voices in my head wrong I struggled one last time to gain control of my body and stop the paralysis. Suddenly I felt my muscles come back under my control and looked up. Jolt was moving in fast, I needed to think of something. Instantly remembering my ace in the whole I started to dig my paws into the dirt as fast as I could.

"Come on Ferne, you have this!" yelled Night's encouraging words from the sideline to fuel me further. As the attack got into gear I felt myself go deeper into the ground as if it were an extension of myself . Closing my eyes I allowed my other sensed to guide me once underground. Down there I felt right, like a part of the earth. And as I grass type what else could you truly ask for. Feeling myself starting to go up I went towards the only source of energy I could find. Getting closer and closer to the surface I came upon my victim like a predator and burst through the ground.

Hearing Jolt scream in surpirse and pain though the crowd's gasps I could tell the attack had hit it's mark. Dusting the dirt off my pelt I heard Jolt's body hit the ground with a sickening thud. Looking over to the Jolteon I could tell he was having trouble standing up, let alone fighting me some more. I'll admit I was tired, but Jolt was done.

Looking over at Desmond I could tell he had reached the same conclusion as me, Jolt couldn't fight anymore. With a look of worry on his face he said "Stay right their Jolt, you're done. I'll be over in a second mate."

Walking (or more like limping) over to him I drew his attention. He looked down at me and sighed "Well Ms. Ferne, it appears you've beaten me.

Ignoring his comment I motioned to a Poke-ball. He smirked "You still want me to catch you?"

Nodding truthfully I said "Yes."

Though the sounds of the crowd cooing over the sweetness of the moment Desmond smiled and unhooked a Poke-ball. Touching it to my nose I felt the button press down and suddenly a warm feeling engulfed me. I felt my body start to feel light and the world started to distort, but I wasn't afraid and it didn't hurt. I was pleased; I was going to get a chance at a new life with a real family. I was going to be able to live a normal life, and this was only the beginning


	62. Rebirth: Of Things to Come

Okay guys, we are in the home stretch of Cerulean city and the gym battle is coming up. But before we can continue the chronicles there are still a few loose ends that need to be slightly tightened. But don't fret, I promise you I will be out of Cerulean city in at most five chapters. Also expect faster updates this week, I have a good amount of free time in the afternoons now and I will be dedicated to this story.

Anyway, on to the question of this update! On a scale of one to ten how suspicious are you in Team Resistance's activities?

Thanks for reading this guys, you're all awesome and I hope you enjoy the update.(Plus just in case you are wondering, there is a reason I didn't choose a world, IE game, anime, manga, for this story...)

* * *

Dawn's Point of View

* * *

I had a chance, I finally had a chance... a chance to be happy in life and to be proud of myself. Sitting in that bed in that bed I could barley contain my excitement. Katherine seriously wanted me on her team, even though she knew about what I did. She could look pass my past mistakes and take me at face value. For her it didn't matter and maybe if she could forgive me then maybe my mother could.

Wanting to stop myself there I tried went back to my previous thoughts, I had no intention of ruining my emotional high by thinking of how I must have disappointing her. She didn't even know my reasoning... she must think I simply-

"I'm sorry miss, am I bothering you?"

Snapping myself out of my thoughts I looked to the source of the voice and was quite surprised at what I saw. Standing just inside the door to my room was a bizarre looking Pokemon. It was about the size of an Umbreon, put with pale, white fur. It's eyes were a dark, but lifeless purple with a white center and it's ears were slightly drooped down. From the sound of it's voice I could tell it was male as well. On it's head what a nurse's hat, the same one the Pokemon Center Chansey's wore.

"Um, no sorry... is there something you need?" I asked still examining the weird looking Pokemon.

Walking over to me with a smile on his face he said "Oh nothing, just need some more blood work before we can ensure that you're blood has stabilized."

"Oh okay, I guess that's alright." I said with an awkward voice.

This new Pokemon calmly took a wipe in one paw and a needle in the other "Just hold still, I need to sanitize the area first." With a slow, but strong stroke he cleaned the area of fur on the inside of my elbow. After several wipes he looked in my eyes and said "This'll be done in a second." I felt a prick on my arm as the needle penetrated me.

"Just give it a minute. Do you feel sick or anything?" said the white furred Pokemon.

Feeling weirdly comfortable around this guy I smiled and shook my head "No I'm fine, thanks... but, do you mind if I ask a you a question?"

I saw his dull violet eyes light up a little as I asked him. His ears perked up and he gave a genuine smile "Of course Ms., what do you need?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that I haven't really seen you around here. Are you new here?" I said trying my best not to sound impolite, so far this bizarre looking, but attractive Pokemon had been kind to me and I wouldn't want him to feel awkward.

He nodded "Yes I am, I just arrived this morning from Celadon city. I'm fresh out of medical school. I kinda want to work my way up from being a nurse into being a full-fledged human doctor."

Interested I urged him on "Really? A human doctor, that's a high goal."

Laughing a little the Pokemon continued "Yeah I know it is, but it's a goal I've spent my life trying to achieve. When I was just a kid my life was saved by a human. He was so compassionate and treated me well. People that didn't know him always judged him, said he was a bad man. But he chose to save my life even when others said he was cold and evil. That moment I decided to spent my life trying to pay back humans for giving me my life." he looked away from me "Probably sounds stupid right?"

"Oh no, it's sweat... I hope you can reach that goal. That human sounds like a good man." I said.

"He is, thanks." His ears perked up and he looked at the needle "And look at that, all done. That wasn't bad was it?"

I shook my head "No... that was a nice little story... I'm sorry, I never caught your name."

With the needle in paw the white furred Pokemon walked to the door. Turning around just before he left he said "Oh my name... Giovanni, it's Giovanni. Have a good day ms."

* * *

Night's Point of View

* * *

"So your part of the team now Ferne, how's it feel?" I asked trying my best to hide the massive amount of excitement I felt. At the time we had come back form the training session and had returned to the Pokemon center. In hind sight, it was a fairly productive day. I got to get my muscles moving and my blood pumping again. I got to schedule my rematch with Ruby and on top if I Ferne got caught my the British guy. Only way it could get better is if I got to sleep in the Pokemon center bed again ( Don't judge me, those sheets are too much of heaven)

The Leafeon smiled at me and shrugged "It's hard to explain. For so long I've been by myself and now I have Pokemon and humans that I can rely on... I won't lie to you and say it feels bad."

Laughing I said "Yeah I felt that way too a few days after I got caught. These guys on the outside look pretty normal, but when your in a jam they'll risk their lives to help you out. Hell, they did for me in the Asylum."

"Hell yeah we did you idiot." spoke Ruby's voice from next to me. Walking up to the conversation the fox look a little less pissed off than usual "You still owe me for that."

"Oh yeah, how you got your ass completely handed to you on fine china by Vernai." I said with a snide smirk on my face.

Before I could even start laughing the Vulpix jabbed me in the shoulder (Really hard too by the way) and growled "Shut up, stupid bug type cheated... anyway" she put her attention to Ferne "Welcome to out little dysfunctional family, I hope you enjoy your stay. As you already know Night is a complete dumb-ass with the IQ of his age."

Offended by this little stab I added in "And I'm sure you already have met Ruby, our resident bitchy asshole with an impulse problem. If you ever are in a situation where being a mindless mass of anger is necessarily call her."

Ruby frowned "Touché douchebag."

"Don't worry about them, they're always like that." said Spark approaching our small group "It's kind of how they interact."

"Yeah I can tell." responded Ferne with a smile as she scratched at her red bandanna.

The mouse crossed his arms "Well I just wanted to say welcome to the team and from what I've seen I'm sure it'll be awesome having you around."

"Thanks for the welcome, it'll be awesome to be around." replied the Leafeon.

"Good job catching that Leafeon dude, she's amazing man!" said Jack in his usual happy tone. Outshining the rest of us we looked over to the human.

"I really didn't catch her, she wanted to join me. I mean, she easily beat Jolt... I'm just lucky to have her." responded Desmond with a calm tone.

"Yeah Jack, sometimes mindlessly beating a Pokemon isn't the way." added Katherine "For example, I asked the Purrloin that escaped from that place with Night to join me."

"What?" almost shouted Ruby and in the process shattering my eardrums "That little cat is joining _my_ team?"

Doing my best to hide my excitement at this new development I smirked "What's wrong Ruby, scared someone is going replace you?"

"Night, shut up alright. I gotta find Razor, this is gonna be big." and with that the Vulpix marched away searching for her green friend.

"Yeah, well I'm gonna go find Jolt. I want to ask him how he felt about that battle." spoke Spark leaving me alone with Ferne once again.

"I guess it's just the two of us again, just like old time right Night?" said Ferne with a small laugh at the end of her sentence. For some reason I felt myself start blushing, I can't really tell you why though. Apparently my feeling for her were still fluctuating from good to bad and my body still didn't fully know how to react to her voice.

"Yeah it is... but uh Ferne, can I ask you something?" I said looking at her face knowing that my question might inflame her.

Rolling her eyes she scoffed "Are you serious Night, of course you can. What's up?"

Fiddling with my paws on the ground I exhaled to calm myself before quickly and quietly saying "How did you get those..." I motioned towards her paws "... blade things.

The instant I finished talking I saw Ferne's body language take a complete one eighty and not is a positive manor. Her once calm and relaxed stance tensed up and her usual soft brown eyes grew dark and hard. Whatever she was feeling after I asked that question there was no doubt that she wasn't so happy. Seeing her expression have a flash of anger I was glad when I saw her fury subside.

"Night, I'd rather not talk about that right now... sorry I misled you but that is a very personal subject." she said hiding most of her anger.

Knowing that I offended her I quickly apologized "Oh my Mew I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was so personal... I thought-"

"There's no need to apologize Night, you just asked a question. I'm sorry but I just don't feel right telling you right now. It's okay though and I'm not mad at you."

Sighing in relief I let myself calm down "Good, because I really don't want to see you mad."

* * *

Razor's point of view

* * *

"Dawn, is what Ruby said true?" I asked in my most sincere tone. Ruby and I found ourselves in Dawn's room knowing that we would need to have a conversation about this sooner or latter. Ruby stood in the corner of the room and appeared to be having a moment of reflection. I stood on Dawn's bed near the edge purposly positioning myself between Dawn and the Vulpix just in case the conversation broke down.

Dawn, who looked much better than she did before, kept her vision low to avoid eye contact and said "Yes, your trainer did ask me to join her team... and I'm going to accept."

"Of course you did, you'll do anything to completely screw up the lives of Pokemon around you huh?" said Ruby from behind me in an annoyed tone "But then again that is what you do."

I noticed Dawn's paws tense up as Ruby spoke, she was getting nervous and scared. Who wouldn't with Ruby attacking like that. Not wanting to get the fox mad at me I kept quite and made sure Ruby didn't get violent.

"What's wrong, scared. 'Cus if you chose to come with us you'll have to deal with me all the time. Just do yourself a favor and go drink yourself into a coma before I put you in one.

Gripping her paws tighter Dawn responded with "You can't make me change my mind Ruby, I want this. I've seen you guys over the last few days and how much you all care about each other..." she kept her head down "With all the things I went through in there with Night I need to be with him, at least untill I can repay him for what he did."

Ruby growled "So you want to come with us because of that Umbreon. He's an absolute jackass, so wonder you li-"

"That's not what he is Ruby!" suddenly shouted the Purrloin lifting her head finally. When I saw here eyes in the light I felt my blood run cold. Her eyes were the deepest dark red I had ever seen, just the sight of them put a sliver of fear into my heart. "You don't know what they did to me there... he helped me through it. In there my past didn't matter and neither did his. It was just me, him, and Pyro against the world and despite me losing all hope Night still managed to stay strong and to protect me. He has his faults, as do I. Say whatever you want about me, heck say whatever you want about Night... but understand that he's a kinder Pokemon that you'll ever be."

Understandably Ruby was completely silent after Dawn's little tirade, partly from the speech itself but also partly from the surprise at seeing her eyes. Noticing that Ruby was currently mute I took it upon myself to continue the conversation "Dawn, what did they do you in there. Your eyes are all-"

"They experimented on me, altered me." she said returning to her usual quiet tone of voice before scoffing "I've been a monster on the inside for so long, and now I'm one on the outside... it's almost funny how sad that is."

Sighing at her self-deprivation I had to speak up "Don't say that Dawn, your not a monster. You made a mistake, we all do that. And with your eyes..." I looked straight into them "They really look nice, like crimson."

I saw her dreary face give a hint of a smile, I've always been good at cheering people up. "You're just saying that, but thank you for the effort Razor... and I'm not sure if I ever got the chance to tell you, but I'm sorry for what I did. I screwed up bad and even if I did it for my mother that doesn't make it good. I want to turn my life around and right now the best way to do that is to travel with you guys and Katherine... I'm going to say yes for me Razor." She looked over at Ruby "And Ruby, I know you'll never forgive me or let me forget what happened that day but I will be spending a good amount of time around you so can we agree to be civil?"

Turning around I think I saw Ruby actually considering Dawn's offer. She gave a frown and said "I don't like it, but okay. I guess if I constantly attack you all the time it'll eventually get tiring." I could have sworn I saw her flash a smirk at the end of that sentence, but then again it is very inappropriate to curse.

* * *

Dexter's point of view

* * *

"It seems like Pokemon are joining this little train of ours as a rapid rate" I said responding to the news that the Purrloin would be joining us.

"Yep, so much for thinking this was an exclusive club." said Night in a light tone. I was surprised to see that we were having this conversation without any hostile tones. Understandably since I had attempted to mess with his mind the Umbreon had treated me with the resentment that I deserved but after a few days he had started to slowly forgive me.

"I suppose it isn't... but it's getting late, I think I'll-"

"Actually Dex, I need to talk to you about something." said the Umbreon interupting me.

Not wanting to appear rude I welcomed the question "Sure Night, what is it?"

Sighing the Umbreon started "I know that when you scanned my mind you found out about what was going on with the legendaries and Arceus and Azelf and everyone else... am I correct in this?"

Stunned by the straightforwardness of Night's question I felt the need to answer truthfully "Yes you are, I also know that you need to go to the elite four and get some type of artifact there and I know that the dog trio is coming after you and Spark." smirking a little I said "Am I right so far."

Nodding Night continued "Well since you already know what's going on I might as well fill you in on this little piece of info, Ruby knows now too."

"Interesting, how?" I asked

"Apparently Mew told her everything, and that she was special... something to do with her fur I think." Looking around to make sure no one could hear us "I'm only telling you this because I'm afraid that the dog trio might attack us soon and I want to make sure that if anything does happen I'll need you next to me. I saw the way you handled yourself in that battle today and even when I fought you. When you fight you move with such intelligence and grace, but your attacks are deadly and accurate. There's no doubt that with some more training with Jack you could be the strongest Pokemon he has."

Flattered by that compliment I replied "Don't worry about that, if anything happens you can count on me."

"Breaking News, Breaking News!" shouted a man on the television "The identity of the burnt corpses found in Cerulean city have been identified!"

Turning around I saw everyone in the Pokemon center lobby was transfixed on the tv that had been integrated into a wall. The room fell silent as we listened.

The news reporter on the tv looked slightly nervous as he said"The bodies have been identified as Aaron and Amber Sanders, brother and sister the two were known members of the criminal group Team Rocket. The police have reported that witnesses have come forward and said that they remember a duo of Pokemon fleeing the scene but didn't get a good look at them. If anyone knows any more information they are asked to report it to the Cerulean city police department. Once again the identities of the bodies found have been discovered to be Aaron and Amber Sanders."

"Oh god..." I whispered to myself thinking entirely of Crystal and Ace. I needed to see them fast. Taking advantage of everyone being transfixed by the television story I quickly and quietly made my way to the door ans sneaked out.

The fresh late afternoon air hit my face as I walked out realizing how close I was letting myself get to Crystal and Ace. I felt bad for their loss, so much that I was at the point of risking my trainer's trust just to make sure they were okay.

"Alright Dexter... keep your head, they should still be in that same alleyway" and with that I was off and in the back of my head I tried to figure out who would want to kill two Team Rocket grunts.

* * *

Crystal's point of view

* * *

"So what now?" said Ace with small tears making their way down his face "They're dead... and we're screwed."

Struggling to maintain myself with the news from the TV I had by face down as the hot tears fell from my face. Aaron and Amber... they didn't deserve to die, not like that. I know you humans think of Team Rocket as evil and terrible, but Amber was different. She was kind and caring, she always made sure that I was happy. Never once did she send me into a fight that she thought I couldn't win or work me pass me breaking point. Keeping my nerve at that moment took all of my mental ability.

"Calm... down Ace... we just-" I stopped in between sobs to catch my breath "Don't do anything stupid."

"Like what Crystal?" shouted back Ace, his sadness being replaced by a sudden anger "It's obvious whoever had that Scyther come after us was the one that killed them." he paused for a moment "If we don't do something drastic soon we'll just end up like them, dead in some alley."

"Stop talking about them like that..." I said with quiet fury, effectively silencing the Pidgeotto "And anyway they wouldn't want us freaking out like this. What we need to do now is come up with a plan."

The sound of footsteps hit my ears and my heart started to race, we were being attacked again. Ace seemed to hear the sound too but didn't react in such a reserved manner. "Who is that, come out right now!"

Turning around I saw the pinkish figure emerge from the shadows with his paws up in a docile fashion. His blue eyes shined through the darkness as he said "Don't attack, it's just Dexter."

Seeing the Espeon didn't raise Ace's mood very much "What are you doing here, you're the last thing I need to see right now."

"I'm just here to make sure you two are still okay... and to say I'm sorry about the death of your trainers." spoke Dexter with a kind tone.

"We don't need your sympathy, we have our own issues to deal with now." said Ace, still staying cold and distant.

Dexter scoffed "And I can help you with them. I have associates in the city that I'm sure will be willing to give you-"

"Thank you Dexter... but we just need some time to get our minds straightened out." I said with tears still falling from my face "Thank you for caring but you should really get back to your friends."

The Espeon looked hurt by my words, but he needed to hear them. Nodding his head respectfully he back away and left the alleyway in silence.

"About time that Espeon left, I was gettin' bored." said a male voice from behind us.

Scared and shocked by this new character Ace and I quickly turned around and got into out battle stances. Just around the corner leaning against a wall was a scruffy looking Meowth with a smirk on his face. Behind him were two humans, one male and the other female. The male had shoulder length purple hair and had his arms crossed. The female had very long reddish hair and had a hand on her hip. Both of the humans wore Team Rocket outfits, except the usual grey color was a slate black

"Sorry if we scared yus', you must be Crystal and Ace." said the Meowth in a human tongue "Nice to meet yus'"

* * *

Sorry about all the fragments to those who don't like multiple narrators, it was just the best way for me to show what was going on.


	63. Rebirth: The Dawn of Dusk

Alright guys, after spending more than 30 chapters in Cerulean city we finally get to see the gym leader. Hope you enjoy it.

One question as well, what do you think of Dawn's new name? ( kin of a spoiler, but you would see it in the first paragraph or so) Be real with me here, I won't be offended if you don't like it.

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

"You guys ready for this?" said Jack in his usual over-excited voice as our group stood outside the Cerulean city gym. Finally we were going to do what we came to this city to do, fight the gym leader. After all of the distractions and misadventures me and eleven other individuals were ready to challenge the city's best trainer. Next to me stood Spark with a confident glow in his eye, this would be hi gym to dominate. Dexter even seemed to be enjoying himself with a slight smile on his face.

"Why wouldn't we all be?" responded Katherine looking down to her Pokemon. Like the last gym Ruby seemed less than enthusiastic as she carelessly blew her bangs away from her face and Razor was already in a battle stance knowing that he was best suited for this gym. The only one that didn't look so sure of herself was Dawn, who was a new addition to the team, looked very nervous. Kat noticed this and knelt down "Dusk, are you alright?"

Dawn (or Dusk) smiled "Yeah I'm fine, just getting use to my new name."

Feeling uneasy about this new name I put it to the back of my head. It was going to be difficult calling her Dusk now, but seeing that it was the name that Katherine had chosen for her I felt like I should honor the decision. Although I do think that it was a good name change, with her new eyes the name Dusk felt like it stuck more.

Spark cracked his fingers "I'm set, this is going to be a gym I can dominate in." he said "Lucky too, I should at least be able to take two down and you guys can just finish off the last one."

Dexter smirked "We'll see."

Walking into the building I saw that it was much more ornate than the Pewter City gym. The walls were made of glass and it seemed to have been made so that those on the inside could clearly see what was going on outside, but from the other side all an out-looker would see is uneasy shapes. The gym was set up like a pool with walkways across the water for Pokemon that would rather not get their fur wet. Standing on the far end of this pool was a light skinned human female with a very short shirt and thigh length jeans.

Upon seeing us the human smiled "Well look at this, three challengers... never had that many before lunch."

Nodding his head respectfully Desmond spoke "Yes, we are here to see if we can all earn a badge."

Looking down at all of us (us meaning Pokemon) she looked surprised "You just have your Pokemon walk outside of their Poke balls?"

"Yeah of course," said Jack "I wouldn't like being crammed into some little ball all day." Poor bastard had no idea how wrong he was about the devices.

Clasping her hands together the gym leader started to talk "Well alright then, I'm Misty the leader of the Cerulean city gym..." she motioned to the pool in front of her "This is the battlefield where your Pokemon will fight."

"Interesting... well I'm Katherine." said Kat (duh)

"Jack" said my trainer (duh x2)

"Desmond." (not even saying this one)

Misty crossed her arms "Okay then Katherine, Jack and Desmond I have a little issue right now. At the moment I only have three Pokemon that are ready for battle..." she smirked "But there are three of you so, if you're alright with it, I'm just going to have to have a one on one with each of you instead of a standard 3 on 3." she paused for a moment "You guys okay with that?"

A series of shrugs and general agreement followed "Perfect, then who's up first?"

A silence that was never heard in the history of the world in the seconds that followed that question. Quickly noticing that no one in the room was going to step up I saw Spark nudge Jack in the side.

My trainer looked down "What, Spark you're up for this?"

Without even looking up at Jack Spark nodded with a smile on his face "I'm set."

My half goth trainer sighed "Alright then I'll go first, I'll be using Spark."

Misty gave a fist pump "Awesome," she looked over to her assistants "Let's get it started guys! We have a challenger!"

Within minutes the assistants in the gym had gotten everything set up. The pool had stayed in the same spot but the ground around the actual structure had gone up a couple feet so the trainers could look down to see the battle but not so high so people in the stands could still see what was going on. On one side of the pool stood Jack with on hand in a pocket and the other in a clenched fist. The look on his face showed his determination but also showed his nervousness. On the other side of the spectrum, Spark was still calm and collected and looked very confident without being cocky. His scarf fell over his body and moved slightly with the small amount of breeze in the room.

Across from them stood the gym leader with her arms crossed and her hip cocked to the side. She unclipped a Poke-ball from her waist. She was set.

"Is the gym leader ready?" yelled the assistant on the side of the pool raising a flag.

"Yep." quickly said Misty.

"Is the challenger ready?" yelled the asistant to Jack who responded with "Yeah."

"Then let the battle commence. It will be a one on one battle, the first Pokemon to be deemed unable to battle with lose." he paused for an unneeded dramatic effect "Begin!"

"Okay, Squirt give them a good challenge!" yelled Misty as her Poke-ball opened. As expected a scruffy looking Squirtle emerged and got into a fighting position.

"Alright Spark, don't get too arrogant because it's a water-type. Keep your speed up and stay quick on your feet." said Jack giving the Pikachu some advice "Start off with a quick attack!"

Following the order without hesitation the mouse made his way across the walkways on the pool with speed that was hard to watch. Once he was within striking distance however Misty smirked and said "Squirt, use dice the water."

With no hurry the Squirtle simply splashed into the water, forcing Spark to stop his attack. Aparently Jack was fine with that as he smiled "Spark, use thunderclap at the water!"

Knowing his trainer's plan Spark started a move I had only seen once. The Pikachu slapped his paws together and let the electricity surge in a circle. Once it had built up he opened both paws and faced their palms towards the water. A stream of unfocused sparks left his paws and surged into the water. Thinking that he had injured the turtle Spark let his guard down and could do anything to prevent what happened next.

"Spark duck!" yelled Jack, but to no avail. Suddenly the Squirtle emerged from the water behind Spark, withdrawn inside his shell, propelling out of the water. With a sickening crack the shell met Pikachu skull and Spark screamed and staggered. Managing to stay on the walkway his only reward for amazing balance was another hit. In the time that Spark had been staggering Squirt had came out of his shell, landed on his face and uppercut Spark.

"Spark counter-attack." said Jack.

Fighting through the pain Spark, who was still falling back from the uppercut, grabbed the collar of the turtle's shell and pulled. Since the Squirtle had strong stature the lighter and more nimble Pikachu lunged back up and slugged the Squirtle in the jaw. Stunned by the attack the water-type was hit again by a swift kick in the left leg. Finishing his combo Spark used that same leg to push the Squirtle back onto his back and pushed him. Sliding on the slick walkway in the middle of the pool the Squirtle had no chance to stop. With a thud the Squirtle's head hit the side of the wall.

"Good move Spark." said Jack congratulating his Pokemon.

"Squirt, lung at that mouse and give him a bubble bath." said Misty "You have this!"

Recovering from the attack the Squirtle got to his feet and lunged at Spark. Pinning the mouse to the floor he opened his mouth and let loose a devastating close range bubble attack. Using only his arms to protect hi face Spark looked like he was in a lot of pain.

Jack started to get nervous as he tried to figure out what to do. Desperate he looked down at me with a worried expression. I simply motioned with my tail to a generator in the corner and said "Make him use an electric attack retard."

Realizing what I meant Jack yelled "Thanks Night, Spark use Thundershock."

Spark gripped Squirts stubby arms and let the electricity do the work. Hitting the turtle where it hurts the turtle stepped back to recover, giving Spark time to stand up. From the looks of things the Squirtle was losing stamina, but so was Spark. Jack needed to end this fast

"Okay, let's finish this. Use Shock-gun!" he yelled.

"The hell is Shock-gun?" I asked Dexter, who stood next to me.

The Espeon looked shocked and replied "What, you didn't see it yesterday?"

Spark grabbed half way up his right arm with his left arm and started to charge energy there. Once it started to burst out Spark opened his right hand and loud boom filled the room as a lighting bolt jolted into the Squirtle's chest. Wanting to make sure that the Squirtle didn't come back Spark pumped his left arm back and then forward on his right arm and let loose another attack. The Squirtle could take the first attack, but after that second one it fell on it's back with a scream and went unconscious.

Misty looked shocked as the assistant raised a flag "Squirt is unable to battle, Spark is the victor!"

"Good job Squirt, get a nice rest." said Misty as she put the turtle back in it's ball before turning her attention to Jack "What the heck kind of move was that? You made up two moves in that battle."

Jack smiled "Well the first one I call Thunderclap, just a super-charged thundershock that's used by breaking a strong circuit in the body. The other one is the Shock-gun, Spark just charges up all the energy in his body and puts it in the front paw and attacks. Then using the friction from the arm pumping up and down the fur he produces more energy and attacks with that." he looked down at Spark "They worked out pretty well right bud?"

"Yeah it did." said Spark walking out of the pool "That was a good one too."

Misty sighed "Well, you beat me. I'll be sure to get you your badge after I battle your friends." she looked over to the bleachers "Okay, who's up next?"

Katherine stood up "I guess I'll go, no need to wait anymore. Plus if Jack can win anything's possible."

The goth gave Kat a death stare, but stayed silent as he stepped down from the raised platform and made his way to the bleachers. Not wanting to look like an idiot I followed him along with Dex and Spark.

Katherine made her way down to the pool and turned around to her three Pokemon. Ruby of course was out of the question... there would be no reason for a fire type to go up against a water type. Daw-er, Dusk (Sorry, still getting used to that) was a possible choice but Razor by far would be the best one to go up against a water gym.

The human looked at all three of her Pokemon in quiet thinking. Settling on Razor she said "Sorry Raze, I know you've been looking forward to this battle but..." she looked over at the Purrloin "I feel like you can make this happen Dusk."

* * *

Dusk's point of view

* * *

Instantly my heart started to beat faster, she expected me to fight a gym leader the very day I got cleared for battle? Looking into her brown eyes I could tell that she was being completely sincere, she really did think I could pull of a win.

At that point I didn't know my trainer all that well but if I wanted to be successful I would need to learn how to trust her. Nodding I said "Okay, I'll go for it."

Quietly apologizing to Razor for inadvertently stealing his thunder I stepped up on the platform around the pool and then down into the actual pool and stepped on the walkway.

Misty looked surprised "You have a Bulbasaur that you could use to fight me, but instead you chose to use your Purrloin. I like trainers that have guts, good luck though 'cus I'm not backing down." she unclipped a poke-ball "Jem, show them what you're made of."

The device opened and a Staryu appeared, it's red gem shimmering in the light. This was going to be tough since I had never gone up against a Pokemon like that.

"Dusk, are you set?" asked Katherine after seeing my opponent.

I won't lie to you, I wasn't very excited about being called a different name. My father named me Dawn and I loved it, every time someone said it I would think of my father. But at the same time I really wasn't Dawn anymore. Dawn didn't go through the Asylum, Dawn didn't stop sitting in a bar all day, Dawn didn't have red eyes. In reality the name change was literal and figurative, I wasn't Dawn anymore. Dawn is at the begining with the hope of a new day, it's the unexperience and the ignorance. I had gone through the day, through the trials and knew what to expect now. I was experienced and hardened by the Asylum. Dawn was still inside me somewhere and I'll never forget her. But I had moved on and improved.

I had become Dusk. And I was going to win this battle. I nodded "I'm ready."

The assistant raised a flag "Is the gym leader ready?"

Misty nodded.

He raised the other flag "Is the challenger ready?"

Katherine nodded "I'm all set!"

"Then the battle begins."

Misty pointed at me "Don't let that cat make the first move Jem, start off water gun!"

Almost like magic a jet of water spouted at me with speeds I couldn't even see. I heard Katherine tell be to dodge, but I could barley close my eyes to keep the water out of my eyes. The water hit me with enough speed to propel me into the side of the pool.

"Dusk regain your focus and use feint attack!" said Katherine giving me the encouragement I needed. Getting back onto my feet I charged at the Staryu. Being feint attack it was near impossible to dodge Jem was no exception. I came at it from the front, then stopped when I was in striking range and let the Staryu dodge the first fake attack. Then before it could return to it's center of gravity I hit it with a bit of dark matter.

The attack was strong enough to knock it in the water, but I knew that there was no way it was done.

"Jem, use harden and then rapid spin." said the gym leader.

"Dusk don't let Jem get a beat on you, run back and forth on the walkway." said Kat.

Seeing the value in this strategy I followed the order and started to run on the walkway being careful not to fall. This was going to be perfect. The Staryu would come out of the water and try to get me and when it did-

"Dusk watch out!" was all I heard before I felt a sharp pain in my jaw. I felt my brain rattle in my head as I fell into the water. The muffled sounds of Katherine yelling were fading as my consciousnesses slipped away.

In the water I could see the Staryu's form coming at me for another attack. At first it's speed was unmatched, but as time went by just like in the Asylum everything slowed down. The air bubbles themselves seemed to stop, I could even see the waves in the water as the Staryu displaced water as it spun. It was happening again. I was going very fast again, and I was going to take advantage of it.

First order of buisness was to attack the Staryu. Not wanting to get any closer I charged up a shadow-ball and let it go. Since only I was going fast my shadow ball went as fast as the Staryu itself. Good, that should hurt.

I involuntarily breathed in air but being underwater I got lung full of H2O. Seeing that I had spend more than a few seconds underwater I struggled my way to the surface. Feeling my body get weak from the lack of oxygen I felt myself start to return to my normal speed. Before I reached the surface I felt a strong explosion inside the water. The shockwave from my shadow-ball was imense and was strong enough to throw me out of the water.

Screaming as I was flung through the air I luckily landed on the walkway but I was anything but fine. My stamina had been completely drained while I was going fast and on top of that flying 10 or so feet in the air before landing on a hard surface is not very healthy for the bones. Sore and drained I couldn't even stand.

"Dusk!" yelled Katherine in a tone of genuine worry.

"Jem, use rapid spin one more time!" shouted Misty pointing at me. I closed my eyes and awaited defeat, I had failed... but that was no surprise.

Seconds passed, but nothing happened. Just the sounds of the waves in the water washing up on my drenched fur and a beeping noise.

"Jem!" yelled Misty in dismay. Opening my eyes I saw why. Right where I launched the shadow-ball at it the Staryu had floated back up to the surface, but was still and it's gem flashed in pain.

"Jem is unable to fight." said the assistant raising a flag "The challenger is victorious."

I sighed in relief as I heard Razor and Katherine celebrate and jump. Looking back I even saw Ruby give me a look of approval. "Yes, you won Dusk. Great job!" yelled Katherine.

Still breathing hard to catch my breath I felt footsteps on the walkway. Soon human hands had wrapped around my body and lifted me up. Holding me in her arms Katherine smiled down at me "You're a resilient girl you know. I'll make sure to get you dried off when we get back to the Pokemon center.

Misty opened a poke-ball "Good effort Jem, you gave them one hell of a battle." she said before looking at me "You are pretty impressive Purrloin, I've never seen a dark type that fast. Anyway, I'll get you a badge after I battle your last friend." She looked up at the bleachers.

I saw Jack pat Desmond on the back "Good luck bro, give 'em hell."

* * *

Vapor's point of view

* * *

"You want me to battle?" I said in dismay when Desmond told me who he wanted to challenge the gym leader with. The blond human looked down at me with a smile and nodded.

"I think you can do it Vapor, but won't make you do it if you don't want to." replied Desmond responding to my question as if he knew what I was saying.

I didn't get his choice. He had Jolt and Ferne, both of which had a type advantage over this gym leader and had more battle experience. Choosing me would nullify the type advantage and put me against a Pokemon that could most likely destroy me.

I felt a soft nudge from my right and heard Jolt say "Go for it Vapor, I believe in you."

"Yeah," said Ferne from my left "I saw the way you handled yourself in the Asylum, fighting some stupid Krabby or Goldeen will be a breeze."

Feeling my confidence rise I nodded at Desmond "Sure, I'll go for it."

Understanding my body language Desmond smiled "Great, let's win us a badge." he looked across the pool to Misty "We're all set."

As I stepped onto the pool walkway I saw the assistant raise a flag "Is the gym leader ready?"

Misty nodded "You guys are good trainers, for you I think I'll bust out the big guns." she unclipped the poke-ball on her waist "Gyro, show them how to win a battle!"

The red light from the Poke-ball spread out and into the water in a large shape. As the red light faded I felt my confidence instantly drop the zero. My opponet's sten face looked at me, or should I say down at me. The dragon-like monster smiled at me as I felt fear surge through me.

"A Gyarados... that's not good. I still believe in you Vapor." said Desmond.

"Is the challenger ready?" asked the assistant who seemed unfazed by the large water-type.

Desmond nodded "Yep."

"Then let the match begin." he said raising a flag.

Not wanting to waste any time Misty pointed at me "Gyro, use Roar!"

The Gyarados opened it's huge mouth and let loose an ear shattering roar that shook the entire room. The shock-waves themselves pushed me against the pool's edges as my heart skipped a beat. I wanted to get out of there more than anything. Turning my head I looked up to Desmond for instruction, I couldn't think of anything to do in my current situation.

He looked down at me with his blue eyes "Calm down Vapor and keep your head." he looked up at the Gyarados "Use water gun, aim for it's mouth."

Seeing his plan in this I kept my cool and spouted out a tight stream of water at Gyro. The large Pokemon didn't seem to expect it as it's roar cut short and it started to gag and cough.

"You little punk." he said "You wanna play that way, fine." Suddenly without even taking the command from his trainer he blasted me with an ice-bean attack. I couldn't even blink before the sharp pain erupted from my gut.

Gripping my stomach I screamed in pain and doubled over. The agony was unbearable, the solid beam of ice felt like an arrow stabbing me and going straight through.

"Good one Gyro, maybe we can finish this one quickly. Use hyper beam." said Misty impressed by her Pokemon's attack.

I heard the devastating attack start to charge up and tried to move, but my muscles refused to but my body through anymore torment . No doubt if this attack hit me I'd be done and a part of me wanted it to be over. The pain was just so intense...

"Vapor, get out of the way!" yelled Desmond, not in anger but in concern. "You're going to get hit!"

I couldn't do it, but legs couldn't move...

"Sis!" shouted Night from the sidelines. Instantly responding to his voice I looked over to him. His red eyes looked at me with worry "Roll into the water." he said in a kind voice.

Of course! Quickly coming on to what he wanted me to do I used all of my leftover energy and pushed with my left hind leg. Pushing hard enough my body fell into the water just as the hyper beam hit where I used to be.

The literal instant I hit the water a healing wave fell over me. The once impossible to handle pain from the ice beam had disappeared and even the most common aches and discomforts were gone. I inhaled the water and let my natural gills process it and allow the liquid rejuvenate me. Opening my eyes I smiled... this is how I was going to win. Above the water I was just another Pokemon, not able to really handle a Gyarados in open combat. But down in the water...

... nothing could touch me.

Not even relying on Desmond's commands anymore I let my natural thoughts dictate my battle. Seeing Gyro join me underwater I knew he couldn't hear Misty's orders either. This wouldn't be Misty vs Desmond. This would be Gyarados vs Vaporeon. Brute force vs precision.

Thinking it could move faster than me the Gyarados charged at me. Not only did I dodge the sloppy attack I left him a nice spot of hot water by using scald. Distracted by his injured eyes the water dragon bumped into the side of the pool. Not letting my enemy get relaxed again I attacked with an Aurora beam.

Unfortunetly Gyro saw where I had stopped and extended his long body into mine causing me a good amount of pain. Swiftly swimming down to the very bottom of the very deep pool I tried to think of something to do. Looking up I saw the Gyrados combing the area trying to find me. Then I thought of somthing, I could make the Gyarados knock himself out.

Launching a water gun I got my opponent's attention. In a mindless rage the Pokemon charged at me at unbelievable speeds, there was no chance for me to dodge. But that wasn't what I was going to do. As he sped at me I used the ability my evolution gave me and became a part of the water. Going too fast to stop himself Gyro crashed into the bottom floor of the pool.

Instantly knocked unconscious by the hit I smirked at my win and zipped up to the surface. Jumping out of the water and though the air I landed next to me trainer with a smile on my face. Desmond himself looked amazed and asked "Vapor, what happened."

Almost on cue the limp body of the Gyarados emerged from the depths, his eyes closed and nose bleeding.

"What!" shouted Misty with a tone of disappointment.

The assistant raised a flag "Gyro is unable to battle, the challenger is victorious."

"Bloody hell Vapor, you won." he looked down at me with such appreciation "What did you do down there?

I scoffed and looked down "Just used my instincts, I guess they know what they're doing."


	64. Rebirth: Worthy of an Introduction

Hey guys, wow I really like this chapter. It took a little over a week but I really feel like I wrote my heart out on this one (The last part was my personal fav)

Anyway, on to the question.

What do you think of Scarlet and Ace?

This is one of the last chapters inside Cerulean, so I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Crystal's point of view

* * *

Opening my eyes I felt the relentless sun's rays attacking my then as if the light had just been waiting for me to wake up. Perhaps it was an attempt by Arceus to cheer me up but all it did was sink me further into my sadness. The alleyway that I had fallen asleep in was less that comfortable with the various foul stenches, stains, and passing Pokemon that looked at me and my little group with disdain.

Looking to my side I was slightly relived when I saw that Ace and the group of three Rockets were still asleep. The night before the Meowth had told us that they had been tasked with retrieving us and finding us new trainers somewhere in the Team Rocket's ranks. At first I was cautious seeing that the two humans seemed like complete imbecile, but as they talked I could tell that they were mostly good people. The night went on and slowly I drifted to sleep, understandably I was tired from the terrible news I had-

Right there as I thought about my situation again and had to fight back tears as emotions burst forward. My trainers were dead and I was just now feeling the full effect of it. The night before I had just been dealing with the shock, now I was dealing with the full brunt of the sadness that came with the deaths of loved ones. Grief is such a strong emotion and with the history that I had with Amber and Aaron losing them was like losing a family member.

As I looked up at the fiery ball at it's full strength I felt the strong urge to just burst out and cry, but I kept it in. I was stronger than that. A child would cry and feel sorry for themselves at that moment.

_'I'm a Rocket.' _I thought _'I am part of the strongest organization in the world, I'm above sobbing like a child'_

Getting an emotional boast I wanted to have day to myself. I wanted to give myself some time to grieve and move on so that I could live m life.

Looking out at the street I took a deep breath "It's about time I had a day off."

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

Sitting in alone in my penthouse I found it impossible to find even an ounce of comfort, in the situation that I found myself. The mid-day sun shinned through the glass leading out to my balcony, forcing it's way through the clear solid and hitting my face. Usually that would cheer me up and get me going but in my deep thought I had no time for trivial things like 'happiness'.

Scanning my mind for anyone I could use to get information on this 'Night' person I had spend the whole night before calling everyone in my mother's company. All of them would say the same thing...

'We will try our best Ms. Scarlet.'

They would be useless as I knew that they all hated my guts. Being the child on the company's CEO I had been born with more power than they would ever have in their whole lives, even if they worked hard. I would just have to rely on Napoleon and his skills to find that Purrloin.

Suddenly I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of someone knocking on my door. Knowing that it was most likely Napoleon I simply reclined on a feinting couch and waved a hoof "Just come in dear, the door's open."

Closing my eyes as the door opened I asked "So Napoleon darling, have you found any information on our little Purrloin friend?"

A thick silence followed my question that was extremely awkward. Confused by Napoleon's silence I opened my eyes "What is-" I froze the moment I saw the Pokemon that had entered my home.

His everlasting black fur was illuminated by his sky blue rings that made him stand out from the rest of his race and his sharp yellow eyes stared at me filled with emotion. His fur was nicely kept and seemed glued to his body, not even a single hair stuck out. He looked at me with a worried look on his face, but I didn't believe for a second that it was a sincere emotion.

My gentle expression quickly became a frown "What are you doing here." I demanded.

The Umbreon sighed "I'm here to make sure that you're okay and to see if you need any help with... well you know."

Standing up from the couch I faced my 'guest' "What, did Napoleon tip you off?"

"He knows that I want to help my daughter." he replied.

Snarling at him I spoke my mind "Don't call me daughter old man, you are not my father. A father wouldn't leave his child and her mother alone for years at a time. Napoleon's more of a son to you that I am a daughter."

Looking at me with an expression that I almost believed he said "You know that's not true. I've screwed up in the past Scarlet and I know that, but I'm trying to help you here. You know what I can do and how much influence I have."

With my stress level rising I closed my eyes to help myself calm down and said "You should leave..."

"No Scarlet, I won't." he said with an urgent tone that caught my attention "You are in deep trouble here and I am very worried for you."

Done with even attempting to hide emotions I exploded "And I'm supposed to believe that you've suddenly had a change of heart and decided to give your daughter some attention for the first time in your life? Really, tell me why you're here?"

My father sighed again "I'm here for the reason that I already stated, Napoleon asked me to come see you and I want to help you Scarlet . I know I've been a terrible father to you and I am sorry for that. However right now I'm here to do anything I can for you-"

"Then just leave, because there's nothing that you can do for me." I responded with a harsh tone "I've already made the mistake of thinking I could rely on you before when I was a child and putting trust in you and you failed me and forgot about me. I'm not a child anymore and I can deal with my problems in a way that I see fit. I understand that you may want to help me and that's great, but I don't need you anymore so just let me make my own choices. I want you to leave now and if you don't I'll be forced to call up security."

My father looked crestfallen and turned away from me "That won't be needed, I'll see my way out. I'm sorry for causing you any discomfort." he took a few steps to the door before turning around to face me again with a smile on his face "Goodbye then... and Scarlet-"

Putting a deep frown on my face I demanded "What?"

"You've made a good life for yourself and I am proud of you." he turned and started to close the door, but before it could completely close I heard him say.

"You've become a beautiful young lady..."

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

"You want to have the rematch right now?" I asked sincerely surprised by Ruby's challenge. We had returned to the Pokemon center by then and the Vulpix had quickly asked me for her rematch. By the heat in her eyes I could tell she was serious too.

"What's wrong, you scared?" she baited with a smirk "You yourself agreed that we should have it before we left Cerulean. We just beat the gym leader so I'm guessing we'll be packing up to leave tomorrow." she paused for a moment "If you want this to happen it needs to happen right now."

Now inside the Pokemon center I tried my best to hide my enthusiasm in events to come "Sure, I'm up for it... so should we have it in the back?"

"The alley, alright lets get it started then."

It took us only minutes to sneak away from our trainers as they were celebrating their victory at the gym and comparing strategies. The other Pokemon seemed to be flocking to Dusk, Spark and Vapor to congratulate them. In all of the excitement the Vulpix and I had slipped out and currently found ourselves in the back alley of the Pokemon center.

I wouldn't of chosen the area myself. It was unimpressive and provided little space to move. The various barrels of trash added an unwanted stench that made my eyes sting. It being near the middle of the day the sun's rays only made the already thick air almost impossible to breath in. Humans on the sidewalk passed by unaware of the battle was about to take place.

Ruby smiled at me in confidence "So, we fight until one of us surrenders?" she asked setting up the rules for the battle.

"Of course, unless you're afraid of a little pain?" I replied in a mocking manor.

Without warning the vulpine fighter lunged at me, luckily for me I was able to sidestep the attack and turn around to face her again. "So we're starting now?"

Ruby got into her fighting stance "What was her first clue." and with that she quickly spat out an ember attack at me. Putting myself into the battle mindset I knew I was just far enough away from her to easily duck under the weak fire attack. But stupid me didn't realize that her plan wasn't to hit me with that, she just wanted me to duck so she could ram me in the forehead with a headbutt attack. As my head collided with her's the only thing keeping me going was the thought that this hurt her as much as it was hurting me.

Stumbling back I managed to get a few feet between Ruby and I to think about the type of attack for me to do. Calling upon my best skill I summoned a ball of condensed dark matter in the form of a shadow ball. I felt like Ruby could dodge it if I simply launched it at her torso, so I decided to be a little smart with my attack. Sending it out to hit her feet I forced Ruby to back up to avoid having her toes burnt by the anti-matter. Seeing my opportune time to strike I charged at the Vulpix, being sure to get a little bit of the leftover matter from the shadow ball on my paws before hitting Ruby across the face with the inside of my right paw. (I made sure to not have my claws out to make sure she didn't get any scratches.)

Falling to her side Ruby gripped her cheek with one paw and hid the other from me. Before I could ask if she was okay she turned over with her hidden paw facing me. With a windy sound a plume of fire escaped her paw and hit me square in the face. Yelping in pain and surprise I brought my paws to me face and skillfully rolled out of the way of the fire and laid on my stomach to shield my more sensitive gut from the heat. Once I had gained the constitution to do it I planted me feet on the ground and jumped away from the attack completely.

I turned around to see that Ruby was just getting up and looked pretty satisfied with her attack. I could feel that some of my already black fur had been burnt off by her attack. However I could tell that my attack had flaked off some of her fur as well. Both of us were breathing hard, so far this battle had been pretty even.

"Well Night..." said Ruby between breaths "Looks like you and I are almost even."

I smiled as I huffed and puffed and replied with "Yeah, the Asylum made me stronger..." I paused to get more air "Good thing too, you've gotten stronger as well."

Ruby broke up our little converse by placing a paw on a wall. I didn't know what she was planning until I saw the embers of fire trickling down the wall. Instincts kicked in and I dropped to the ground as the fox swiped at me with her paw. What I can only call a whip of fire slashed the air where my head had been. Swiping again Ruby aimed lower and forced me to jump over the slash of heat. With one last slash Ruby attacked with a vertical slash. I rolled to my left and barley avoided the strike.

"I like this attack, too bad it's useless." said Ruby licking her paw. "But I think it's time I stopped playing with you." Ruby hunched down and smirked "I've been saving this one for you, hope you appreciated it."

Not knowing what she had planned I was careful to keep my focus, whatever she was about to do would win or lose the battle for me.

* * *

Crystal's point of view

* * *

I was careful not to draw too much attention to myself as I sat in the bar sulking in my depression. Having been able to talk my way past the brain-dead Machoke guard I now found myself in a fairly popular looking building. It was not crowded, but it was far from empty as various Pokemon talked and socialized. The calm but elegant looking area looked pretty exclusive as well, I assumed the Machoke must have thought I was attractive.

Seeping back into my grief I thought of all the happy times I had with Amber and how long I knew her. My trainer and I hadn't been paired up randomly like most Team Rocket grunts. Ace and I had known Amber and Aaron since we were very young... some of my first memories were of me and Amber playing and running aro-... I cut myself off, I wasn't about to make myself cry in a public place. Amber wouldn't want me to sob over her like that.

"Hey, sweat checks... what's with the down face?" said gruff male voice. Dragging myself back into the real world I looked up at the source and saw a Mankey with a stupid look on his face.

"Nothing to concern you." I said in a weak attempt to get him to go away.

My plan failing I found the monkey lean on the bar and place a paw near on of mine "I am a bartender, it is my job to listen to sad story's. What's your story, someone dump ya'? Not get some part in a show... get yelled at by a human?"

"I'm serious, stop talking to me." I replied with a sharper tone in my voice as I looked up at him "I'm dealing with something terrible right now, so hows about you go bother some other girl because you won't be getting anything out of me."

"Yeah Scratch, leave the girl alone. She's had a rough day." said a vaguely familiar voice to my side. Interested enough to change my gaze I was taken aback by who the speaker was. The Zorua that we had been tasked to capture from before stood with a concerned look on his face.

The Mankey shrugged and started to walk away "Whatever you say boss..."

"I'm sorry about him but don't take it personal, he was really trying to make you feel better." said the black fox. His tone was surprisingly friendly seeing that only a few days ago we had him and his partner almost captured.

Unable to think of anything to say to him I just stared blankly at him like an idiot.

The Zorua seemed to realize something and rolled his eyes as he laughed "I'm sorry, this must be terribly awkward for you. And on top of it you don't know my name." he gave a smile "I'm Zain, and I'm sorry that we couldn't have met under less tragic circumstances Crystal. Let me be the first one to console you for the loss of you and you're friend's trainers."

Shocked by his beaming kindness I couldn't help but smile "Well, thank you. Um, I'm sorry for the whole incident outside on the road. I was just following an order-"

He stopped me by simply raising a paw, his simple presence in front of me seemed to overcome me as he patted by shoulder "There's no need to apologize Crystal. In the state that you must be in right now the last thing you need to do is confess to things. You should be remembering your trainer and grieving while moving on." he pause for a moment "In fact why don't you go find someone to talk to and confide in them."

"You really are kind," I said "And I do thank you for the advice, I just can't help thinking of who did it and..."

"Don't worry about that, if the police can't crack it we have informants all over that I'm sure could help us solve this. You should get going and see your Pidgeotto friend."

I sighed "You're right, I'll go and do that." I hopped off the chair and turned one last time to face the fox "Thanks Zain, you have no idea how much you just helped me out."

Zain reclined back in the bar stool and smiled back at me "Not as much as you just helped me..."

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

I didn't know whether to dodge what was surly about to be one hell of an attack, or to try to take it on and stand my ground but one thing was for sure,

Ruby was about to do something insane.

The alley itself seemed to be separated from the world at that moment as hot pressurized air flowed from the walls as Ruby breathed in. In hindsight I should have charged her right there and then, but in the moment all I could do was watch in fear at what was about to happen. In the back of my mind I was struggling trying to figure out what move she was about to do.

Filling her lungs with enough air to fill me twice she stopped and lowered her head "Just try and dodge hell."

The literal moment I heard her say that I remembered what move she was doing. I had only seen her do it once, but I knew how devastating it could be. She was doing Hell's blast and I was about to poop myself.

With a define yell she opened her mouth and a massive plume of fire erupted at me. Her being less that 10 meters away I couldn't even attempt to dodge the attack. Just like last time as the attack approached me it took the form of a fox head charging at me. Deciding not to back down I fell to the ground with my face pointed down and my limbs tightly gripping my torso. As I heard it come for me I prepared myself for a hot pain. But, all that happened was a hot wind pass over me. In hindsight, it was actually comfortable.

Poking my head up I saw Ruby standing there with a first class idiot look on her face. Her mouth was agape as she breathed in and out hard and her eyes glared at me with a mixture of anger and shock.

Standing up a smirked "What, you pissed?"

"How did that miss?" she demanded in a angry tone "That's impossible. That attack can't be beat!"

"Not so sure about that Rubes." I said starting to explain why her attack failed. "That is one very hot attack, but it's a very small amount of fire and mostly hot air. It looks cool and if you get stuck in it you'll be in a world of pain. However..." I paused to look at the walls around us "In this little alleyway the very hot air got the overwhelming urge to rise, so it did. All I had to do was duck and let your fox head pass over me."

Realizing her mistake as I explained it I saw the fox scowl and look down "You can't be serious... crap!" she looked back up quickly "I surrender, you won... I can't fight anymore." she looked away from me "Just don't let your ego get too big."

* * *

"You had a rematch with Ruby?" asked Vapor in surprise "When?"

Ruby and I had returned from our battle in the alleyway and were now talking with Vapor, Razor, Dusk, and Ferne about where we had been. The sun had started to go down and everything was starting to slow down. Over the conversation I had overheard on our way back from the gym I found out that we would be leaving for Vermilion city in the morning... I'm getting off topic, we were with our friends int he Pokemon center talking.

"Just out in the back." I said as if she would have already known "You didn't hear us?"

"Not we didn't." said Dusk in a concerned tone "Are you two alright?"

"We're both fine, thanks for the worry I guess. In hindsight it was a pretty fun battle, even with the dissapointing ending." said Ruby acting uncharacteristically civil to the Purrloin.

Her Bulbasaur buddy nudged her side "So... who won?" asked the reptile with a smirk.

At that question the fox went silent and simply looked at me, she couldn't bear to say the worlds apparently. Since everyone saw her turn to me they all looked at me and I found myself being at the center of attention.

Without even thinking about it I shrugged "It was a draw, she did some attack that tired her out and I was injured to much by it. Neither of us really won." I said lying through my teeth. I gave a quick flash of a smile at Ruby before sighing "I'm sure we could debate about it all we want, but it was a draw." I glanced over at my sister and smirked "Unlike your battle eh sis?"

Blushing quickly from the sudden praise I thought she had her time in the spotlight and moved on to Dusk "You too Dusk, great going today."

She gave a polite nod "Thank you Night, it wasn't as clean as I was hoping but it got the job done."

"Thank you for the advice too Umbreon." said Vapor recovering from her blushing fit "Without your coaching on the side there's no way I would have won."

I shrugged in fake humbleness "It's what I do... speaking of which where's Spark, I forgot to congratulate him on his win?"

"Spark? I think he's over there with your trainer and Dexter." said Ferne pointing over across the room. Glancing over I saw my trainer reclined in a Pokemon center chair sleeping with his electric mouse in his lap also enjoying a late afternoon nap. The two snored almost in tandem and for a split second I kinda thought it was cute.

"Aw..." said Razor in a fake cute voice "How sweet."

"Ah let them have it, they had a long day." I said coming to the defense of my trainer and my closest friend "Wait, didn't you say Dex was there too?" I turned to Ferne who looked confused.

"Yeah, last time I checked he was sleeping a Jack's feet.." looking around she started to look worried "Where is he, did he just sneak out or something?"

"I don't know but he better come back soon." I said looking outside "It's getting dark and a pink gentlemen like him doesn't belong in the night world.

* * *

Crystal's point of view

* * *

Walking through the city I felt a veil of nerves fall over me as the protection of the sun melted away and was replaced by the eerie gaze of the moon and the false hope of the stars. The streets felt cold and lifeless as slowly human and Pokemon alike retreated into their homes as those who called the night home emerged from their daytime hibernation.

Following the advice of Zain I had been trying to find my way back to a friend, which one exactly... that's what I had been trying to figure out for the past few hours. On one paw you had Ace, my childhood friend and closest ally. He could be a little distant and cold, but usually when it counted he could be really nice.

And then there was Dexter...

Never before had a virtual stranger interested me as much as him. He had such an intelligent air about him and was confident without being arrogant. Yes our relationship had started off as only business, but after he had used us for what he needed he still insisted to help us find our trainers out of the pure goodness of his heart. Not only that, but he had come to us the moment he heard about their fate to see if we were okay. I had never met someone like him, and I felt like in my time of need he would be more likely to embrace me and tell me everything would be okay. Even if I wouldn't of admitted it at the time that is what I needed.

Suddenly I felt the presence of something following me in the night. Just as a precaution I went over to the right and into an alleyway. I didn't think someone was actually following me, but as I turned I felt the figure follow me. Fear gripped my heart as I turned around to face my stalker.

Before me stood the Machoke from outside the Pokemon club. Sighing in relief I said "Oh good... I thought you we-"

"You have committed sin against your own kind and must be punished." said the Machoke in a deep threatening tone.

Without any warning the fighting type crushed his fist into the side of my face causing me to shriek in pain and surprise. In my shock I didn't even have time to register the kick that was delivered to my chin. Tumbling back I quickly realized that this would be a very hard battle to win.

"What the hell was that?" I yelled at him "That hurt you asshole!"

The meat-head the preceded to swing at me again. Not about to fall for the same trick twice I ducked under the sloppy attack and counter-attacked with a well placed ice shard attack. The razor sharp ice fragments hit the Machoke in the chest, but shattered upon impact with his rock hard body. My enemy they turned around and hit me in the nose with a devastating attack. As I fell back I felt every bone in my nose shatter and splinter. Screaming in agony I fell the the ground squirming and writhing as my brain struggled to react to the immense amount of pain receptors going off.

Focusing as much energy as possible I opened my mouth and yelled out "Help!" into the night sky hoping someone would help me.

I heard his footsteps approach me one by one. From the force he had put into the blows so far it was obvious that he was trying to kill me. Sure that I was done I glared at him... if I was going to die at least he would remember my face.

Then out of nowhere the Machoke screamed in pain and tumbled back from some sort of scratch attack.

"Prepare for trouble..."

Another attack hit the Machoke, this one looking very much like aerial ace.

" Make it double..."

Screaming the Machoke fell back after another aerial ace. In view of me now stood 4 shadowy figures looking on with the intent to assist me. The female figure stepped forward with her long crimson hair and smirked "To protect the world devastation..."

The male then stepped forward with his shorter purple hair "To unite all peoples within our nation..."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!" shouted the female pointing at the Machoke, who was hit by a swift attack from one of the shorter figures.

The male pointed up "To extend our reach..." he paused and pointed at the Machoke "...to the stars above!" almost on queue a bird-like Pokemon fell from the heavens and attacked with a fly attack, injuring the Machoke more.

Out of the darkness both of the human figures showed themselves in the full light. The female put her hands on her hips "Jessie."

The male smirked and crossed his arms "James."

Jessie looked at the Machoke with anger "Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light..."

James gave me a nod and looked at the Machoke as well "Surrender now or prepare to fight..."

From the shadows stepped out Ace and Meowth already engaged in the battle with the Machoke. Meowth made a fist and triumphantly said "Meowth, that's right."


	65. Rebirth: Of Resistance and Rockets

Okay. So this is the longest chapter to date, but what else did you expect for the Cerulean city departure?

And I have a question for you as well. Who do you think is stronger Napoleon, or Dexter?

Hope you enjoy this!

* * *

Dexter's point of view

* * *

Walking through the dark streets of Cerulean city I felt my heart beating in my chest as I thought about her. If we were really leaving the next day I had to see her just one more time, I had to make sure that she was okay. Scanning anything that moved with my eyes I could only spot the occational Pokemon or trainer walking around. Keeping my ears atune I struggled to hear even a peep that sounded like her.

Looking back at that moment I could see that I was being illogical, I had already been to the spot she would usually be in and she wasn't there so she could have been anywhere. Finding her in that huge city would be near impossible, almost comparable to finding a needle in a hay farm in less than ten minutes. But at that moment I had put logic to the side. Something, no matter how amazing and helpful it could be, logic needed to take a backseat to instincts.

Suddenly I heard a blood chilling cry for help that hit my ears with urgency. No doubt that was Crystal and no doubt that she needed help. Rushing into action I used my ears to calculate just where the scream had come from. If she needed me I'd be there... I wasn't about to let another person down...

The cold hard street felt lifeless as my paws padded upon it. The sounds of me running through the street destroyed any amount of stealth I had. By heart kept beating at an incredible rate as I got closer and closer to the source of the yell.

Turning a corner I could hear a commotion going on in an alleyway near me. Sharpening my hearing I point pointed to source and hunted it down.

Just before I could enter the side street a large hulking Pokemon was flung out of the alley and into the cold night street. Upon inspection I saw that it was a Machoke that appeared to have been fighting a losing battle. It's body was covered in various degrees of scratches and bruises and with the look of intense anger on his face I could tell this was a heated contest.

Coming out of the alley as well was Ace with a deadly serious expression, one that looked even more angry than his regular one. His wings sat restlessly on his sides like he was struggling to keep them still. Same with his feet, except they were a bit more frigidity. He was scared, but did an outstanding job hiding it. Stepping out behind him was a scruffy looking Meowth that looked like he had been in his share of fights.

Knowing that Ace was on Crystal's side I concluded that I would side with the Rockets but was careful not to get involved too fast. The last think wanted to do was jump the gun and make a mistake, and also I wasn't in any hurry to reopen my wound from the Asylum.

Having had caught its breath the Machoke gave a loud grunt as it tried to slam down on he Meowth. With speed that defied the Pokemon's massive size I grew a bit worried for the feline. Without skipping a beat the cat sidestepped the fist as it crashed into the ground his body had once occupied. Spinning from the momentum of his movements the Meowth unsheathed his claws and in one fluid movement he slashed the fighting-types arm. Fueled by the anger from his hit the Machoke pulled back another fist and punched. Ducking under this attack I was surpised to see Ace use a well placed aerial ace hitting the Machoke across the face.

Rebounding back from the hit I saw two humans step out of the alleyway, both had bizzare colored hair and both had Team Rocket uniforms on. They looked less like trainers and more like onlookers but were cheering in support.

Staggering back the Machoke regained his balance and stood up straight. For a moment he stood there and surveyed his opponents. I saw him catch a quick glance at me and frown, I would have to get involved now that I had been discovered.

But seeing me didn't have the effect that I thought it would have on the Machoke. Instead of attacking me openly or even trying to run he simply raised a beefy hand into the sky and said in a calm but strong tone "What are the biggest lies in a Pokemon's life?"

So completely stunned by his sudden outburst all I could do was stand there with a stupid look on my face. At first I had no idea what he was talking about, but after a bit of thinking I felt like I had heard that line somewhere... back when I was called Requiem and had a differnet outlook on the world. Apparently the Rocket's were just as dumbfounded as me since Ace and the Meowth just stood there and didn't even flinch. In this silence that lasted several seconds I felt the pressence of more beings, like we were being watched from the shadows.

"Freedom and independence my comrade..." whispered a cold voice from behind me. Instantly recognizing it I new that my pure reflexes would determine whether or not I got the chance to breath in again. It was less like a duck and more like a controlled fall to the ground as I felt something cut through the very atoms in the air and fly pass my still alive form. Quickly knowing that my attacker was off balance I pounced at the dark mass that was now in front of me. Vastly underestimating the Pokemon's next move I found myself hitting nothing but air and I watched me attempted murderer retreat to the Machoke.

The black Scyther still looked the same it did before, except there was a slightly more confident way about him. Knowing in my mind that this battle just got twice as deadly I changed my state of mind. I wasn't about to get killed in some street brawl.

When Ace caught sight of the bug type I saw his expression quickly sharpen as he took a step forward. Using his amazing sight he glared down the Scyther without a hint of kindness in his eyes "Your back? Good." he said in a cold tone "I hope you know you just stepped into the worst fight you'll ever be in."

The Scyther nodded to the Machoke and replied in a snake-like tone "What await's those who defy progress?"

The Meowth smirked and crossed his arms "What another rid-"

"A swift death." spoke a voice from the shadows.

"Meowth, behind you!" shouted the female Rocket grunt with a sincere tone of worry. Out of the night came two small figures going straight for the cat. Not trusting Meowth to move on his own I took action and pulled him towards me with a pinpoint psychic attack. Yowling like an idiot the cat had been pulled forward just enough to avoid getting impaled by the two Nidoran that sped pass him. Wanting to decrease the distance between me and my improptu allies. If we were going to win agaist this now larger enemy force we would need to work together.

Stopping to look at us I saw that the two Nidoran were male and female, but didn't look inexperienced in battle. The way they stood made it seem like they trusted each other with their lives and had been in many situations where that was necessarily for survival. The male looked at me with such a ferocity in his eyes it almost made me worry while the female had a slight look of mercy in her face. Despite this I resolved that these two would be the hardest to deal with.

"What da heck was that about?" demanded the loud mouthed Meowth with an accent that resembled a castrated old style gangster.

"I saved your life, try to stay quick on your feet because I might not be able to do it." I responded trying not to sound condescending.

"Oh trust me Espeon, that Meowth is alive only because we allowed him to live for now..." said the male Nidoran "My name is Nero and this is Violet. The Machoke behind me is Choke and the Scyther is Oblivion. Team Resistance problem here is not with you Espeon. We are here to do one thing, to eliminate the Team Rocket members currently in this city and at the moment that doesn't include you. Step aside and we will allow you to live, resist and you'll share the fate of the Rockets."

"Call me Dexter, and what would this fate be Nero?" I asked.

"A pot of flowers, a whole, a coffin, and a corpse... you have one chance to leave Espeon, make your choice." replied the male Nidoran ignoring my request with the utmost snobbery.

Smiling I started to talk "You also have a choice to make Nero, Violet, Choke and Oblivion. You don't need to use violence to solve your problems, why don't we see if we can me an agreement instead of killing each other."

"I would be open to-" started Violet who was imediatly intrurpted.

"That was your chance Espeon." Said Choke in a gruff, and slightly intimidating voice "Now you die with these scum."

Switching into battle mode I quickly saw that I had some kind of type advantage over everyone with the exception of the Scyther, but when it came to that I was sure that I could rely on Ace to handle that. Remembering how he handled himself in that battle between him and Jolt he would be more than able to take down the wannabe ninja.

Almost on cue Ace took to the sky ans vanished in the now very cloudy night sky. Fog was closing in on the ground and would start to help hide the bird in the gas. Wanting to get the first attack off and act aggressiven I attacked the mass of enemies before me with a psyshock attack. Not nearly as powerful or accurate as psychic it did however have a much better attack radius and was best used on groups of opponents. Bracing for the attack like I knew they would I charged at Nero with full intent to do as much damage possible to the rabbit.

Suddenly I had to spin off sharply to the side as a large fist slammed in front of me. Changing my attack priority to the Machoke and continued to turn and hit him with a psychic blast right in the ribs. Needless to say the attack hit some and the Machoke gripped it's side as it staggered over.

Feeling the presence of the Scyther approaching me. Swinging my head around the strike I caught eyes with Oblivion and saw the want to kill in them, but not the immediate will. Without warning he ducked and I was hit with a pin needle attack from Violet, how had positioned herself in a fashion so that she could surprise me. Feeling my stamina drop like a rock I struggled to retain my focus enough to know that I needed to back up. Luckily for me my two allies quickly came to my rescue.

From my right Meowth rushed pass me scratched the female Nidoran across the face. Using the momentum from his sloppy, but effective attack he continued to spin and scratched her with his other paw. Violet recoiled and managed to hit Meowth with a toxic wash as she staggered this was going on Ace swooped down as a bird of prey and struck down at the Scyther like a bolt of lighting. Screaming in agony from the perfectly executed move Oblivion's cries were cut short when the merciless avian dug a talon deep into the bug's back.

"What's wrong, have a boo boo?" said Ace in a tone filled with anger.

I was about to warn him not to kill the Scyther but before I could even open my mouth something that felt like a train drilled me in the back of my skull. Rebounding off the concrete street by forehead swelled with pain and my brain bounced around in my slightly less stable skull. Very much dazed I could feel a hot, but numb feeling from my head and blood oozing from my cuts. Clawing at the ground I tried to stand up and combat what was most likely the Machoke, but was only rewarded by a foot stepping on my back causing immense pain to my spine. Very much unable to do much I was helpless as a large hand grabbed me by my neck fur and lifted my limp form off the ground.

Out of the corner of me eye I could see the two Team Rocket grunts trying to figure out a plan, at least they were attempting to help.

Raising my head I saw that Meowth had withdrawn back and looked terribly poisoned and fatigued. Out of some superficial cuts blood was replaced by a purplish fluid, he wouldn't be of much use anymore. Seeing that allies were in bad shape Ace had ascended up to the skies again to plan his next move... or to run away, I wasn't sure which one.

Turning me around I was forced to look at Choke and his tight chest. Glacing past him I could see down into an alleyway, the one I had heard Crystal scream help from. My heart ran cold at what I saw.

Laying perfectly still was the form of a Glaceon. Her back was to me but it was obvious that she was at least unconscious. Around her head was a small pool of not so fresh blood. In the moonlight her body looked cold and I hoped to the queen... I mean Arceus, that was just knocked out.

Raising a paw to me I heard the Machoke sigh "I hope you enjoyed your sins in life, you will spend eternity atoning for them." his voice seemed distant as I stuggled to keep my eyes open and combat the urge to just surrender to the blood loss. Suddenly the Machoke looked up and fired what looked like a hyper beam into the sky that pierced the fog. Hearing an eagle's cry I saw Ace falling out of the sky, one of his wing's badly injured. Crashing to the ground he was knocked out upon impact and was out of the battle. Within a few minutes the tide had turned and things didn't look too good for us.

"Hey, what's going on here?" shouted out a friendly tone. Instantly recogizing it I found a glimmer of hope that I wouldn't get smashed and turned to face this new speaker along with everyone else there.

Standing a few meters away was Jolt looking very concerned about my situation. Looking back I could see how a bleeding and banged up Espeon in the clutches of a beef cake like Machoke looked pretty bad. His stark dark brown eyes scanned me and he quickly saw that I needed help.

The Machoke, being an absolute idiot frowned and said "Jolt this dosn't concern you, this is Team Resistance business. Leave before you end up getting killed like this Espeon here."

Frowning Jolt responed sharply with "You're going to kill him?" he glanced over at Violet, Nero and Oblivion and saw that they seemed to agree with that statement. Turning back to Choke he responded "Too bad I won't let you."

Laughing like a buffoon Choke said "And you are going to st-"

Before my attacker could even finish talking Jolt had used quick attack and had raced through the couple of meters separating him and Choke and had slammed into his side with a sickening force. Letting go of me Choke grabbed his side and looked down at Jolt just in time to get nailed by a bolt of lighting coming down from the sky. After taking all the hits he had getting stuck by lighting finally downed the Machoke as he fell to the ground in a massive heap.

"Are you alright mate?" asked Jolt as if he hadn't just destroyed Choke in two attacks.

I quelled the urge of being sarcastic and frankly said "No I'm not... I can fight but I won't be of much use to you... same with the Meowth over there."

"Ey!" yelled Meowth from a few feet away in a resistant cry "I'm still in dis, you tink I'm just gonna let some punks beat me?"

Jolt frowned as he caught sight of the two team rocket human grunts and looked to me "Since when have you been with Team Rocket?" he asked ignoring Meowth.

"Since Team Resistance has been trying to kill Ace and Crystal." I said truthfully "I got mixed up in the wrong fight."

Instantly recognizing Ace and Crystal on the ground Jolt smirked "I never thought of you as the noble type, but I think your doing the right thing." he turned to the rest of Team Resistance "How's about we talk about this mates. I'm sure we could come to a peaceful agreement." His calm but kind voice was much more genuine than mine, perhaps because of how I thought through every choice I made and carefully calculated my words.

Violet stepped forward with a look of true pity on her face "We would like to Jolt, but we have out orders and we need to neutrilize the threat in this city. I'm sorry you had to see this but we are doing what is right."

"Remind me again how murder is right... I thought you were the good guys!" shouted back Jolt with a quick flare of anger.

"We are and we are strong enough to understand the only way to defeat Team Rocket, Magma, Aqua, and Galactic is to fight them head on. They kill Pokemon, innocent Pokemon. If they are killed they deserve it for their crimes." said Nero answering for Violet.

"What would Eric and Zain think abou-" started Jolt before he war cut short by Oblivion.

"Eric and Zain?" he said in a quiet voice "They sent us to do this Jolteon." he paused for a moment "I grow tired of this talk, step aside or die with these traitorous Pokemon."

Slightly turning his head to me Jolt whispered "Do you think you can handle the Nidoran?"

"Both of them?" I questioned " I wouldn't count on it but I'll try." I wiped some of the still flowing blood off my face "Can you take care of the Scyther."

The British Jolteon nodded "Of course mate, I've been waiting for some time to test out my moves." He turned to Meowth "Are you sure you're okay to fight, you look badly poisoned."

Wiping off some oozing fluid from his body he laughed "You kiddn' me, I'm all set."

"Outstanding, this is gonna be-" started Jolt before he suddenly ducked for what looked like no reason. However less than a second after he had lowered his head a blade sliced the air where his skull used to be it. Using only pure reaction I scrapped up some focus and blasted the Scyther with a psychic blast. Staggering back from my attack Oblivion has no chance of dodging the headbutt from Jolt that followed.

Oblivion regained his balance and randomly jumped. From under him rushed up Nero who promptly jumped over Jolt and veered right at me. Only able to move over slightly I expected for him to headbutt me, but I forgot one very important thing about Nidoran anatomy...

They have horns.

Luckily for me however his horn wasn't sharpened, but it still did cause a jolt of pain that ran up and down my in agonizing pain I channeled my pain into anger and my anger into power as I placed a paw on the belly of Nero. Hitting the ground let loose a thunderous shout and pumped my arm full of psychic energy.

The pure brute force of the attack sent the Nidoran flying through the air, but he did so in silence. He landed about a foot from Violet and rolled on the ground before settling on his side with his face towards me. Adjusting my sight I saw that his eyes we closed and he lay completely still with the standard movement that breathing forced. One well placed overpowered psychic move had knocked out an nonevolved poison type, nothing new there. But in the situation int was a life saver.

The Rocket grunts cheered and Violet looked crestfallen as she considered her situation. Within a minute she had lost two of her allies and now had to face a two to three ratio. Sighing she looked up at Jolt "I surrender, I beg you to except it." her voice was calculated but true.

"What? Suddenly loss the will to fight?" demanded Jolt, he seemed disappointed with what Team Resistance's activity actually was.

"I never had it, I've never liked fighting. I do what I need to do because I know I'm one of the good guys, I'm one of the few that dares to question human dominance." She paused "I'm sorry that you don't agree with us but please at least allow us to retreat."

"Oh really, you tink I'm just gonna let yus' leave?" spoke up Meowth "You're just gonna hunt us down and kill us latter!"

"What?" said the female Rocket grunt in surprise "When did it get to that?" The Meowth apparently spoke human.

"Don't know but I think we should think about getting out of here," said the male looking over to the feline "Meowth, how's about we get going?"

"Not until I make sure these punks don't hurt any other Rockets." said Meowth in a serious tone.

"Wait Meowth..." said a weak female voice. Turning to face the source I saw Crystal standing very close to me (I hadn't even felt her approach.) Her nose had a bit of blood stained around it but besides that she looked fine. Her blue eyes glared at Violet with compassion "Let her and her friends leave... our business is done here."

"Are you serious?" yelled the cat "They're just gonna come back and-"

"We are Rocket's Meowth." said Crystal in a tone of confidence "We don't fear anything. Our enemies may try to retreat and attack us again, but we are above killing something just because they might cause a threat." She glanced back at the unconscious Machoke "The Machoke and the male Nidoran are out of the battle and the Scyther has been seriously injured. They can't pose any threat to us anymore." she brought her attention back to Violet "Take your friends and leave, we won't bother you anymore."

Once again Crystal had managed to amaze me. Just a day before she had found out that her trainers had died but she had kept her head and thought things through. She spoke with such purpose , almost like she had chosen her words for hours and had delivered them at the opportune moment.

Thanking Crystal with a nod Violet lifted her unconscious partner onto her back. Oblivion rushed over to Choke and lifted him up. Without wasting anytime the Scyther disappeared into the night, while Violet just started to slowly walk as she thought about her loss.

When they were out of sight Jolt turned to Crystal and smirked "I thought I remembered you... didn't we fight on the road here?"

Crystal quickly loss the confidence in her stance and sunk a little as she responded with "Yes we did... I guess I should thank you for helping out."

Jolt's smirk widened to a smile "No problem miss," he wrapped an arm around my shoulder (Which still hurt) and said "Me and the other Pokemon Dex and I travel with were on the look out for him, I just happened to find him first." he glanced over at Meowth "You alright over there mate?"

It was obvious that the Meowth was far from alright. The toxic attack that had hit him had been draining his energy for some time now and he looked to be teetering on the edge of consciousnesses. But despite this he gave a grin and said "Who me? Of course-" he looked over at the two Rocket grunts "But I wouldn't mind some help here Jessie and James."

"Oh... yes." suddenly spoke of the female, who I assumed to be Jessie "We should get you to a Pokemon center."

"We also need to get Ace to the center as well." said the male, James, as he looked over to the form on the Pidgeotto.

Almost on cue the bird coughed and said in a weak voice "Don't worry about me..." with a burst of stamina the Pidgeotto amazingly stood up and looked at me with sharp eyes "I'm fine."

"Ace..." spoke Crystal with a small smile on her face "You've always been stupidly resistant."

The bird smirked "Yeah I guess," he changed his glance to Jolt "You seemed to have saved the day here, without you I assume we'd all be dead." he started to walk to the Jolteon. Once within a few feet he stopped and dipped his head a little "Thank you."

Jolt gave a kind laugh in the situation "Don't worry about it, I just acted. Anyway-" he took his arm off me "We should get to the Pokemon center, Desmond and the others want to leave tomorrow."

"You're leaving?" asked Crystal with sudden urgency and sadness. I felt my heart sink as she said that, from her tone I could tell that she didn't want me to leave.

"Yeah we are..." I said with my voice trailing off "I guess we should get going?"

Everyone seemed to agree with various degrees of want and with that we made our way back to the Pokemon center.

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

"Where the hell did you run off to?" I asked more out of interest than worry. Dexter could take care of himself, but it was weird to just up and leave in the middle of the night.

"I had some buisness to attend to." responded the Espeon like he didn't want to be talking to me at the moment. Around an hour ago we noticed that Dexter was gone and Jack being super paranoid since the asylum had decieded to have a mass search party find him. We basically split up on our own and spread out across the city at night trying to find him. Desmond adviced that we just get the police and let them do their work, but once again since the Asylum Jack was paranoid and refused to just sit and wait again. We had gotten word from the nurse in the Pokemon center that Dexter had entered the Pokemon center with Jolt and several others and we rushed back.

Looking over Dexter is was obvious that the psychic-type had been is some sort of battle. A bandage was wrapped around his head tight and only allowed for his ears to pop out. Little specks of dried blood dotted his face and several bruises were scattered around his form. On his left shoulder another bandage was surrounding a wound that seemed pretty bad. He also had his left paw off the ground, apparently it had been injured enough to cause him not to put any weight on it.

"Business that had to do with Team Rocket?" I asked motioning to the Glaceon and the Pidgeotto across the room with a smirk on my face.

"Night I wouldn't expect you to understand..." said Dexter looking over at the duo "They lost their trainers and I just had to see if they were okay."

I gave him a confused look "What? Why do you care about them so much ? Yeah it sucks that their trainers died and I feel for them, but why go out in the middle of the night?"

"We are going to leave the city tomorrow and I didn't think I would be able to see them again." started Dexter looking me in the eyes "And I felt that Crystal needed me."

"Crystal?" I questioned "You know their names... at least girls na-" I stopped as a thought found it's way into my mind. Turning to the Espeon with my finest douchebag smile I said "You like that Glaceon, don't you Dexter?"

Dexter is pink, pink as pink can be but after I spoke those words I swear he blushed so bad I could see it through his fur. His gaze lowered and went away from me as he slightly frowned. "It's not that at all Night, stop making things up." His voice was jumpy and out of tune, no doubt he was lying.

"It's okay Dex." I looked over the Glaceon "She seems like your kind of girl."

"Oh really?" he said raising his eyes again "And what kind of girl would that be?"

"A girl as cold as ice." I said with my best attempt to keep a straight face but failing miserably.

"Dexter!" shouted the voice of Jack as the Pokemon center doors opened. Jack had gone with Katherine and Desmond and must have heard that Dex had made it back to the Pokemon center in one piece. His natural, but messy hair looked especially messy and he panted as if he had been running for a long time. The moment he laid eyes on the Espeon I saw his big green eyes light up the same way they did when I woke up after the Asylum. A wide smile found it's way to the human's face and he rushed over to Dexter.

Kneeling down next to him he softly cupped Dexter head in his hands and said "Are you okay?"

Politely slipping his head from the trainers hands Dexter nodded and said "Yes I'm fine."

Understanding the Espeon somehow Jack sighed "Good... try not to freak me out like that again."

"Yes, you do have a well trained Espeon..." said a bizarre male voice. It came from someone that I didn't even notice before who was standing neer the Glaceon and the Pidgeotto.

The human male stood near Crystal and Ace and had a large tan trench-coat covering almost all of his form with the exception of his head which sported purple hair and sharp eyes. His voice was one of seriousness, but it had a bit of a goofy undertone.

Next to him was a women, one with the same weird outfit on but with an abundance of crimson hair flowing down in one solid mass down to her knees. The way that she stood made it appear like she thought she was better than everyone else as well. She approached Jack and shook his hand while saying "It is good to meet you young man, your Espeon is excellent." she looked back at a feline Pokemon on "Meowth didn't this Espeon save you?"

"He helped... nothin' else." said a Meowth leaning on a wall near Ace. He spoke in a human tone that I noticed quickly and had a voice like he was a stereotypical 'tough guy' but didn't have the tone to keep up the reputation. "But he did get us out of a jam."

Jack so stunned by the fact that he could understand Meowth he just stared at the cat and said "You can talk?"

Not annoyed by the question at all Meowth shrugged "Look's like it."

While this was going on Katherine had made her way to the Pidgeotto and the Glaceon and stood close to them as she knelt down. Looking at both of them she sighed "I'm sorry, but are you the Pokemon we fought on the way to this city?" she asked in a heartfelt tone.

Ace refused to acknowledge Kat, but Crystal looked her straight in the eye and slowly nodded.

"I saw what happened to your trainers on TV..." spoke Katherine with her voice trailing. Even though he wasn't looking at her Ace still heard Katherine's words and I saw his face tightened, most likely in an attempt to keep his emotions in. Crystal kept her expression mostly the same but let her eyes lower with solemn sadness.

"I know that you probobly have no want to listen to me right now, but I just wanted to make sure that you were okay." said Katherine on a voice that made even my cold heart feel.

"So I guess we should get going, we still have some business to attend to, don't we?" asked the male human to the female.

"Oh yes we should." said the women with a still very fake tone. "Thank you for helping us. Come on now Meowth, Ace, Crystal."

Still with that same look on intense emotion on her face went into a state of thought. I could almost see the gears turning in her head before she looked over to Meowth and said "You can speak human right Meowth?"

He turned to Crystal and nodded "Yeah, sure."

"Then can you tell this human something?" she asked before whispering something into his ear. As she spoke Meowth's eyes widened and is face got more and more unsettled. Once she was finished he looked at her as if to confirm what he had heard and she nodded with determination.

"Wait..." said Meowth in a hesitant tone. He turned to Katherine and said "Crystal asked me if..." he paused to breath in "... if she could possibly travel the world with you."

"What!" yelled Dexter suddenly not able to hide the happiness in his voice. He looked straight into the eyes of Crystal who did the same to him. Ace gained focus and glared at Crystal. Kat looked very surprised, but stayed silent as Meowth continued.

"Crystal said that since her trainer died she's been trying to figure out what she really wants in life, and she has chosen that she want's to travel around the world and challenge other trainers." said Meowth as he spoke words that were not his.

Katherine was so dumbfounded by these words she had to look at Crystal to see if Meowth was telling the truth. Crystal's cold but meaninful eyes said it all, Meowth was telling the truth.

"She would understand if you don't except her, but she says that she wants this bad." finished Meowth with slight regret.

"Crystal what the hell are you doing?" asked Ace quietly to his ally "You want to leave Team Rocket?..." he paused "You want to leave me?"

"I'm not doing this to get away from you or Team Rocket, I'm doing this for me." said the Glaceon turning to face the Pidgeotto "I will always love Team Rocket, they've done good things for me. But I need to make my own path in life and I want to be a part of an adventure. I couldn't do that with Team Rocket and I won't be able to if I keep doing what I'm doing."

"I know what this is..." said Ace with a sad tone "You want to be with that Espeon don't you?"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dexter flash a quick smile at the mention of this, but disappeared quickly as Crystal answered with "Not at all. Dexter is a nice guy but I don't want to leave because of him... I really hope you can understand."

The bird frowned and looked down and looked like he was thinking about what he felt. I saw his talons grip the floor before he said "I don't like this Crystal, but if you want to do this I won't stop you. I care for you Crystal and you know that, you're like a sister to me and I want to see you happy more than anything." he sighed "If she let's you go I'll miss you though."

"Are you sure about this Crystal?" asked Katherine in a sincere voice "This is a big deal."

Crystal nodded with confidence and looked dead into Katherine's brown eyes.

"I literally just had another Pokemon join my team yesterday... but," she looked over to Ruby who looked very not open to having to deal with someone else "You want to join me and I've always wanted to have an ice-type." she gave a smile "I'm open to it."

Katherine quickly looked up to the bizarre human duo and said "I mean as long as it's okay with you two."

Looking almost naturally stupid the two coated humans looked at each other with confusion. They had no idea how to react to this and said nothing forcing the Meowth to say "It's fine, she was just with us until we found her a good trainer. Go ahead kid." he said in a nonchalant tone.

Looking back at Crystal Kat smiled "Then I guess it's final." she expanded a Poke-ball from her hip and carefully placed it on Crystal's forehead. Closing her eyes I swear I saw to Glaceon have a small smile on her face, she wanted this. A small light emitted from the Poke-ball as a red lining surrounded the ice-type like magic. Making an automated calming sound the light dissipated and the Poke-ball clicked to symbolize the bond that had just been made.

Me being the arrogant douchbag I am I had little care for Crystal, she seemed a little cold and distant. But what I did notice was the way Dexter's face lit up when the "capture" was complete. I felt good for the Espeon even though just days before he had been trying to do damage to me. He had a heart, even though it was buried deep in intellect. He seemed to care about this girl and I quietly wished him and Crystal the best of luck.

Glancing over to Ruby I smirked. Crystal would need more than just good wishes from me to deal with Ruby, I know I did.

I looked back over to Dexter and was surprised to see that the Pidgeotto had made his way over to the Espeon and had been looking at his with saddness. Sighing he said "Take good care of her alright." he looked back at the Glaceon "She is strong, but she did just lose her trainer ans she'll need someone to mourn with." he glanced at Dexter again "Make sure she stays level headed and try to keep her out of trouble."

Dexter nodded "I will."

"Good." said Ace with a defined voice "Because if you don't I would be to thrilled."

* * *

Ruby's point of view

* * *

After the little ceremony in the Pokemon center the two humans, the Meowth, and the Pidgeotto left without a scene, aparently they had better things to do. Katherine talked with her new Pokemon for a bit before going to Jack and Desmond to cheer leaving the Glaceon open and without anyone to talk to. Seeing my opening a made a b-line to the ice type.

Over those last few days I had to deal with Dawn (or Dusk, whatever I still called her Dawn) joining my team and now I needed to deal with some Team Rocket bitch stepping in and joining. I'm not against having others join the team, but I am agaist having to deal with three new additions to our group in the past 48 hours.

"Crystal, right?" I said not hiding my aggressive side.

Straightening up the Glaceon looked at me and smiled a little "Yes, and you are..." she said in an attempt to get me to say my name.

"Ruby, nice to meet you. Just wanted to come over and introduce you to the team." I said not using my mean girl voice by mistake "You picked a time to join us too."

"What do you mean?" she asked in confusion.

"Nothing, just there's been a couple of new additons to our group and I'm su-" I started

"Hey Rubes." interrupted Razor as he stepped into the conversation "You talking to the new recruit?"

"I'm sorry?" said Crystal not at all getting Razor's sense of humor.

The Bulbasaur laughed "Just a little joke, I'm Razor. Welcome to the group." he looked around "It's getting kinda late so I'm sure you'll just have to meet everyone tomorrow. You should get some rest, we're heading for Vermilion and it's gonna be a long trip."

"Great," replied Crystal in an enthusiastic tone "It'll give me some time to meet everyone."

I couldn't help but smirk, I wondered if she forgot that just moments before she was a part of Team Rocket. If she thought that this transition would be easy...the she's going to be in for one hell of a ride.

* * *

Well guys that's it for Cerulean city for now. Lot's of stuff coming up though so don't get too bummed. (Oh and just in case you were thinking that Crystal's introduction to the group was too easy just wait, she'll get the full treatment next chapter...)


	66. Rebirth: Impending Fate

This chapter isn't as massive as the last one, but I think it's acceptable seeing that it's a quicker update than usual.

I have a couple of little hints in this chapter about characters and future events so I hop you pay attention.

Also since Vermilion city is comming up I have a new question for you.

Which side are you on, Scarlet's and Napoleon's, or Night and Dawn's?

Hope you give some thought into that question and I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Crystal's point of view

* * *

_I opened my eyes suddenly and found myself in a state of confusion. No doubt I had fallen asleep at the Pokemon center the night before, but now I was anywhere but the Pokemon center. For one, I was surrounded by a conclave of ice and water... an endless tunnel with bright light's at either end. I breathed hard as I gripped the ice beneath me as I got to my feet._

_"Interesting mind you have Crystal. Not what I excepted at all." spoke a strong, but kind feminine voice. It's power almost made the walls of ice around me shake as if an earthquake was starting. Completely startled by this strange new voice I looked around veraciously in an attempt to find it's source. Turning around I was stopped cold in my tracks. Breathing hard I stepped back a little as fear started to course through my veins._

_"Articuno..." I said under my breath in the presence of the legendary that represented my type. She stood tall over me at about the height of a human, but she seemed so much bigger. Her blue feathers bulged from her chest as her red eyes beamed down upon me. On her head was a collection of what looked like ice crystals that strongly resembled mine. A long flowing tail rested around her chilled legs as the water molecules around her seemed to turn straight from gas into ice._

_Sensing my fear and amazement Articuno smiled and said "Don't be afraid, I'm not here to hurt you."_

_Taking a step back I felt my heart rate increase 'This has to be a dream...' I said ' There's no other explanation.'_

_The ice legendary sighed "This isn't a dream Crystal. I am very much real and I'm trying to talk with you."_

_Feeling my legs shaking under me I tried my best not to studder as I spoke "And how am I expected to think this is true? I could be asleep right now."_

_Her crimson red eyes shinned down on me, forcing me to stare right at them. It's not that I was afraid of Articuno, it was just so breathtaking to even look at her that I didn't know what to do. The more I looked at Articuno the more I started to doubt that I was in a dream. Dreams didn't feel this real and vivid. In dreams I didn't have all my senses, I didn't feel cold wind rushing pass me or sense the presence of another living thing or even get that feeling that I was just a huge bundle of nerves about to feint in front of Articuno herself. As my thought started to make more and more sense I wasn't even sure if I was awake or not._

_"I can assure you, this is not a dream Glaceon. But you are currently asleep." spoke Articuno in a calm soothing voice._

_Unsure of what she meant I felt myself get more confortable and asked "What do you mean by that, how could I be asleep but not dreaming?" I tried to sound as not accusing as possible._

_Like she expected my question the ice bird smiled and responded with "I thought I already told you, I said you had an interesting mind."_

_"What does that mean?" I asked with a more urgent tone._

_"It means that I am in your subconscious at the moment." spoke Articuno like she had simply said the weather._

_Widening my eyes I let my ears drop and was stupidly surprised by this revelation I needed to know more "How is that possible... even if I am in my own mind somehow how could you be here when you aren't psychic."_

_Again like she thought I would ask that she smiled and replied "Mew is a very strong being Crystal, you should be proud that he is watching over you."_

_The instant she said that I instantly doubted it, Mew had better things to do than just sit around and make sure I was okay. It's not that I didn't trust Articuno, she was a legendary Pokemon, but it just didn't make any sense. Not wanting to seem impolite I faked interest and asked "How would Mew be watching over me?" As I said it I couldn't help but thinking if Mew actually was looking out for me. Having just dealt with loss I wouldn't mind having a guardian angel._

_"You don't believe me, but that's understandable." spoke Articuno somehow knowing my emotions "It matters not, whether you acknowledged it or not Mew has been watching you... up until recently he's been in direct command of you in fact."_

_Not knowing what Articuno was talking about I got a little worried with her reaction "I'm sorry for not trusting you , I shouldn't o-"_

_"Don't worry Crystal." said Articuno in a calming tone raising a wing "You have questions yet unanswered, that is okay. All you need to know is that you have an important role in events that will take place very soon."_

_Unsure how to react to this information I just asked "I do?"_

_Articuno nodded "But I must make my leave now, Mew can only support my form in your mind for a limited time."_

_"Wait a minute... If I'm in my own mind when you leave..."_

_Articuno smiled "You will simply wake up-"_

"Get up!"

Opening my eyes with urgency I found myself laying on soft grass under the safe shade of a tree with a slight afternoon air blowing through the sky. Standing over me was the Vulpix from the night before, Ruby I think her name was. She looked down at me with unequal annoyance and distain and looked like she could care less about me. Her brown eyes were pretty, but fierce and full of fury. Her obviously dyed pink fur looked weirdly natural and her reddish bangs moved slightly in the wind.

"You really shouldn't just take naps in the middle of trips, Katherine almost forgot about you." she said with a disgusted tone.

Apparently we had already made our way to Vermilion and I had no memory of it whatsoever. Looking up at the sun poking it's way through the trees I took note that it was about midday already.

"Hey!" yelled Ruby with a shrieking tone. I refocused and looked back at the fox who looked a little more pissed as the seconds ticked by. "Are you seriously just gonna sit there, get the hell up."

Propping myself up I frowned "I'm not to thrilled with your tone, I know I'm new here but there no need to-"

"Oh my gawd get the heck up right now!" yelled the Vulpix shutting me up effectively "All you do is sleep and wait, we are moving and Kat told me to come and get you." she stomped a paw into the ground "So let move huh?"

Wanting to not make the fox anymore angry I got to my feet and dusted myself off "You have a little attitude problem don't you Ruby?"

Already stepping off the grass and onto the dirt path that shown in the sun Ruby snarled "I don't have an attitide problem, I have a moring problem and a people problem, talking to you isn't making anything better either. I've had to deal with a lot of new things in the past few days and with you joining the group I have another problem to handle."

A little offended by Ruby's comment I hid my shock and said "I'm a problem, interesting."

"Don't take it personally, I don't like people." replied the vulpine in a distant tone almost like she was just talking to herself.

We walked the majority of our every short trip in awkward silence, at least it was awkward for me. Ruby didn't treat me the way that I assumed I deserved to be treated. Even with this time alone she acted as if I wasn't there or like I wasn't important. There was no doubt that the Vulpix had a very small amount of respect for me and with the way she acted I could say that the feeling was mutual. Ruby and I didn't need to be best friends, I just wanted us to be civil.

As I saw my new trainer surrounded by her friends and their Pokemon I sighed and turned to Ruby "Alright look. I'm an up front girl and I can see that we aren't having a great relationship so far. An I right in this?"

Without even looking at me the fox nodded.

"That's what I thought. We don't need to be friends all I want is for us to be civil and work well together. Are you okay with-" I started.

"Dexter tell your girlfriend to shut up!" yelled Ruby rudely interrupting my sentence once we were a couple of feet from Katherine.

My trainer had her back to me and at the sound of Ruby's voice she turned and put a bright smile on her face. She had such lively brown eyes that always seemed to be true. Being out in the sun all day so far her human skin had grown slightly tanned but still looked just as natural as her long brown hair. I noticed that she had changed cloths since the night before and had replaced her all white attire with a light green jacket and a matching t-shirt. Her white pants had been replaced with well fitting sky blue jeans. Her hat had been removed and allowed for her hair to flow more in the wind. For a human she looked humble and pretty.

She gave a warm smile and put a hand on her hip "Did you enjoy you nap Crystal? Hope you did, we still have a long way to go..." she looked over at one of the male humans "Isn't that right Jack?" Her voice grew less kind with that last question.

This Jack human looked like an idiot as squatted down looking at the map before him. I saw he had green eyes and jet black hair. The day before I remembered his hair was messy and natural, but today it was gelled and stuck up in various directions with a slight red tint near each root and molded bangs fell over his eyes. His jacket that he wore the day before was replaced by grey t-shirt with a bizzare black design and had on tight fitting black pants. His belt where he held his poke-balls and potions was a bright red that popped.

"On the map it's obvious that we can get to Vermilion if we cut through this forest road." he said in a pleading tone. Next to him stood his scarfed Pikachu, Spark I think his name was, nodding agreeing to his trainers statement while his Umbreon Night stood there like he could care less.

"Well maybe you read the map wrong!" she yelled at him.

"Come on you two, let's figure out a plan without yelling." spoke the other male human in an English tone. He, like the others, had changed his outfit to feel more comfortable in the warm weather. He had one a thin grayish blue vest with a thin shirt under it. His khaki pants had been swapped out for more fitting gray jeans and now had a stripped black and blue fedora. His thin blond hair peaked out his hat in an even style that seemed to suit him.

Next to him stood his Jolteon and his Vaporeon (Who he creatively named Jolt and Vapor) looking up at their trainer and his Leafeon Ferne who similar to Night looked like she had better things to do and also sported a red bandanna around her neck

At this point the humans started to bicker with themselves and let the other Pokemon and I have time to talk. Within a very short amount of time we had sorted ourselves out and we had out own little circle to talk in.

"Well I guess we should just come out and say this..." started Razor "We've had a couple of new additions to our little family here and I want to make them feel welcome. With all the stuff having to do with the Asylum and the gym I never got the chance to do this so..." he looked around th group "Welcome Dusk, Ferne, and Crystal."

"Yeah I second that." spoke Vapor in a quiet voice "It's nice having some more girls around- not to offend you Ruby." she said suddenly at the end of her thought.

Ruby shrugged carelessly "No offense taken. I guess welcome too to Ferne. Dawn and I have had our introductions and Crystal..." she looked at me without emotion "I'm not a big fan of Team Rocket so sorry if I'm not so warm."

Feeling a pit in my chest as those words were spoken I felt an anger rise in me as the Pokemon around me reacted with surprise from Ruby's comment. From an outside perspective I could see how Ruby felt the way she felt, but this was not the way to bring it up.

"Come on Ruby, there was no-" started Dusk.

"No you all come on. We can't just keep quiet about this, Crystal was a part of Team Rocket up until yesterday night. I don't know about you but I don't like organizations that steal Pokemon and do tests on them. Maybe some of you are alright with that, it seems like Dexter is." she said in an accusatory tone.

Before I had a chance to speak the Espeon put a surprised look on his face "I'm sorry that I felt the need to try and help out a group of Pokemon that needed it. I have nothing against Team Rocket's members if they are good people that don't deserve what happens to them." he said in a calculated voice.

"Well of course you would think that Team Rocket does nothing wrong, did we all forget when he tried to fry Night's brain?" responded Ruby motioning to Night how looked like he suddenly started to pay attention at the mention of his name.

"You did what?" shouted Ferne with a tone that came only from what I assumed to be familiarity "I thought you had changed Requiem!"

Dexter (or Requiem, I wasn't even sure anymore) tightened his body and gritted his teeth as he thought about how to respond "I have _Jane _just I had a moment of weakness and I apologized to Night for it, but we aren't talking about me."

For the first time in the couple of days I had known Dexter at that point I saw him look very worried, like he had some dark secret he didn't want us to know. Up to then I had just assumed he was telling the truth about everything he did, but seeing that Ferne (or Jane, something else I didn't get) called him by Requiem I had doubts.

Wanting the conversation to focus up back on the issue Ruby brought up I loudly cleared my throat to gain attention and said "If I may say something." Looking around quickly to make sure I was the center of attention I glanced over at Ruby "I'm sorry to hear that you have something against Team Rocket. They've been good to me, despite what others may think, and they do what they think is good."

"What they think is good..." said Spark with his arms crossed. He gave a weak laugh "I've never heard of them doing anything good. So many people and Pokemon have been hurt by them. Maybe they think what they're doing is alright, but in the end they're just criminals trying to turn a profit willing to hurt whoever they need to." From previous conversations I had heard Spark speak and he seemed like an nice and upstanding Pikachu, but the way he said those sentences felt like he was gripping onto a strong emotion, like a bad memory had been haunting him.

Still wanting to defend the group I still had care for I frowned "You can think of them what you want, I know what I know and my feelings about them aren't going to change." I paused to think "I want us to be a good strong group, a group that can come together and face challenges together. You may not all like the choices I've made in my life but I've done nothing but try to be nice and not to offend anyone."

Suddenly without warning I felt a huge amount of negative emotion sweep over me as the memory of Amber's face hit my mind. Breathing in hard I spat out a quick apology and turned to walk away from the group. I wasn't about to cry in front of them and appear weak, the last thing I needed was something else going against me. With each step I took another fond memory crossed my mind, the times when I was younger and we used to play... the battles we were in... working together with Ace and Aaron and joining Team Rocket.

I hit a tree with my foot and stopped, looking down at the roots. A image of her laying dead on the floor involuntarily was created in my mind and it stuck. She was in an alleyway looking so still with a pool of deep red blood staining her Team Rocket uniform. Her once expressive and warm face was dull and lifeless... and I couldn't do anything but glare at her. Without losing my cool I forced a smile and turned around to the group "Sorry, I have a little headache... I'll be fine in a minute."

I sank down agaist the tree and looked at the grass in front of me _"I'll be alright." _I kept telling myself in a quiet tone _"I'll be alright."_

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

"I have some good new Scarlet!" anounched Napoleon triumphantly as he entered my penthouse like he was royalty. His red eyes had a hint of happyness in them as he dropped a family of papers before me on a table.

Slightly surprised by his action I blatantly said "What is this dear?" It was mid afternoon and the sun was at it's peak in the sky. It's rays broke through the glass to my balcony and looked beautiful as it hit my floor.

Smiling he fell back on a chair with his arms crossed and said "Good news that's what. I did some digging in Surge's official Pokemon League records that record every single trainer that wins against a gym leader and the Pokemon that they used."

Sensing where he was going I allowed him to think I didn't to humor him and said "Why is this important?"

"Because I found a trainer named Jack that defeated the gym leader there using a Pikachu named Spark. When he fought the Pewter city gym he used Spark and an Umbreon named Night." he said getting to his point.

"And this is important because..." I spoke leading him on to keep talking.

At the same time at the Cerulean gym a trainer named Katherine beat the gym leader with a Purrloin named Dusk... we are looking for a Purrlion. Now we're in Kanto and Purrloin's are from Unova, this Purrloin could be our guy."

"Or girl..." I added on "But we still aren't sure if this is just a normal Purloin."

"Yeah I know, but at the moment this is the strongest lead that we have to get this Purloin and turn her in." he smiled "Then we can get on with our lives."

"I guess you could." spoke a new voice that greatly startled me. Looking with urgency over to the source I was shocked at the Pokemon I saw. Standing, more leaning, on my balcony was a Pokemon that had the body type of an evolved Eevee, but there was no doubt I had never seen anything like him before. His fur was smooth against his body, but looked more like straightened Steel wool than natural fur. His eyes were a cold rusty shade with a dark center that looked like a black hole. His ears looked like they had been molded by metal wire and got darker in the center like his eyes. A tail came out from behind him and like his ears it had the appearance of wire that had been molded together. Around his waist was a little belt that held multiple small black balls. Upon seeing he was the center of attention he smirked "Hello you two."

Napoleon being as protective as a bigger brother sprung to his feet and put a hand over a throwing dagger "Who are you!" he yelled in a threatening voice.

Raising a paw in defense this new Pokemon chuckled a bit "I'm not here to fight, just to talk." His voice came out almost like he wasn't using muiple words, but one single continuous orchestra that not only made sense but was soothing to the ear.

"And how do I know that, a little weird that you'd just be up here on the penthouse floor." replied Napoleon making his voice less angry.

"I don't have to answer that. All you need to know is that I'm from Team Rocket and I'm here to check on you." he glanced over to the reports on the table in front of me "And I see that you've been working hard to I'll leave you to it."

"Wait darling." I said in a detached voice to draw this new mysterious Pokemon in "Can I ask you a quick question?"

Standing up completly he nodded "Shoot, but only one. I'm on a tight schedule."

"What's your name?"

Laughing quietly he unhooked a small ball and held it in his paw "My name I can't tell you..." with force he threw the ball onto the ground and a plume of smoke appeared around him "...but you can call me Giovanni."

* * *

Dusk's point of view

* * *

As the sun started to get closer and closer to the horizon we continued to make our way down this 'short cut' to Vermilion city. My paws were starting to get sore from the relentless walking but I was far from uncomfortable. Looking over to my right I gave a little smile as I saw Vapor talking with Night and Ferne. Jolt was walking with Spark, even Ruby was walking close to me without being hostile. I still didn't feel completely welcomed into the group, but so far everyone had been trying and I could appreciate that.

The only negative thing I saw was Crystal walking relevantly alone and away from the main group. Just looking at her forced a strong feeling of pity upon me. Her and I had things in common and in another life our roles could easily be switched. She had joined Team Rocket, most likely because that was the best choice for her simlar to how I had to do some actions to save my mother. I doubt either of us would take back what we did if we had the chance, but I think we both realise that we both made controversial decisions in life.

_"Dusk..."_

A voice entered my head suddenly and forced me to jolt in fear.

_"Don't you dare slow down, keep walking normally... I have news for you..."_ Spoke the voice again. I recognized it as Darkrai and out of a mix of terror and respect I obeyed and continued to walk as if nothing was going on.

_"Listen to me... there is danger awaiting you in Vermilion city." _Darkrai's voice made my spine tingle _"Do not be afraid however, I will not allow you to die and neither will your enemy's there."_

_'What do they want with me?' I asked through my mind hoping he could hear me._

_"That is not important, just know that you cannot loose control of yourself when you are confronted, a daughter of mine resides in that city and I wouldn't wany you hurting her. **Make a point not me anger me**." he said those last words with a booming tone._

_'A daughter of yours, what do you mean?' I though again hoping he would answer me, but I had no such luck._

Sighing I returned my thoughts to the real world but continued to think about what had just happened. There was no doubt that Darkrai was speaking with me and that he was immensely powerful. I believed him when he said I was going to be in danger in Vermilion but I was far from afraid of any threat. I had Night an all of his friends to keep me safe and fight with me. I didn't care if Darkrai's 'Daughter' was coming for me, I wasn't about to back down.

Looking up at the slowly darkening sky I smiled, nothing could stop me.


	67. Rebirth: Rising Tensions

Alright guys, last chapter before Vermilion city. If you thought that Cerulean was bad then I have some things in store for you. Another anticipation builder for now, but expect more next update.

A more broad question for you guys this time. Out of all the characters introduced thus far, who do you find to be your favorite/most interesting/most provoking.

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

With this new unearthed infromation about my target the waiting game began, my least favorite activity. The moon rested in the night sky above me with the stars as I felt their presence look down upon me. Cool air rushed pass me, brushing against my now very cold skin. The oxford shirt and black tie I always wore did little to keep my small amount of body heat in but it was a necessarily sacrifice in the moment. Standing on a rooftop over the main road into Vermilion city I was hoping that my resarch would yield and I would see my target enter the city anytime now.

Breathing out hard I saw my once warm breath hit the cold night air and I started to think _'Am I doing the right thing here?' _Doing something like this really wasn't my style. I protected Pokemon and humans from criminals, I watched over the city and made sure nothing bad happened. Quickly I thought of Scarlet, this was different than regular crimes. I wasn't doing this for me, Scarlet needed me to do this for her. I would never need to say it to her but I truly cared for the Ponyta and I would do anything to protect her.

"Napoleon-" spoke a familiar male voice from behind me.

Not even needing to look at the speaker I sighed "What do you want Black?"

The lightfooted fox trotted up next to me and looked at me with a look of dissapointment "I need to ask you a question Napoleon."

Glancing over to him I saw that he was starring straight into my eyes with a passion I hadn't seen in him in a long time "Of course, what's up?"

"Some members of Team Resistance were attacked in Cerulean city yesterday by some Team Rocket members..." he paused "I need to know if that fiend you associate with had anything to do with that."

Feeling the insult hidden in his words I responded sharply " Don't talk about her like that Black, it would do you well not to make me angry right now. Scarlet didn't organize the attack of your bosses so don't worry."

"The Resistance doesn't control me Napoleon, we just share common interests. And I mean it about Scarlet, leave her she's no good." responded Black in a similar sharp tone.

"I'll be the first to admit that Scarlet has her issues, we all do. But there's no way I'm just going to abandon her when she needs me the most." I crossed my arms "We've known each other for a long time Black and we are friends. Maybe you can't comprehend that but some Pokemon actually like to get close with others." I took a little verbal jab at the Vulpix with that one.

The fox sighed and looked away from me "I can't make you do anything Napoleon, you have the right to choose who's side you're on." he paused for a moment "I was told that I should come and talk with you one last time..."

Interested by his statement I turned to him and asked "What do you mean on last time?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this but I've been contracted to either get you to turn in Scarlet or terminate you..." his voice trailed like he regretted saying those words.

"What!" I shouted at him in anger "You expect me to just turn in Scarlet to the Resistance? They'll kill her and you know that."

"I'm giving you a chance to make a choice Snivy." spoke Black, his voice getting more and more detached with every word "You and I both knew this was coming... our views and interests have been getting less and less similar. Don't think for a second that I don't respect you Napoleon though, you do good things in this city. You save lives and protect the inocent-" his gaze came back to me and I looked into his dark brown eyes "-but you also protect a criminal, a murderer and a fiend. She may have you under her control old friend but she's the devil. When I hear her name or see her face I can feel something deeper, something darker than a void. Napoleon I telling you this because I care." he put a deep frown on his face "Even the master says there's something about her."

I gave an invisible smile, I knew more than Black in this area. "If it will make you feel better I'll go talk to the master." I said wanting to shut the clothed Vulpix up "If he says I should turn her in I will."

"Thank you..." he turned away from me as his jacket blew in the wind "Next time I see you Scarlet better not be free to walk around though. I'd hate to have to end a life and a friendship." and with that he jumped off the rooftop and into the night.

Once the Vulpix was gone I sighed and thought about what Black had said. You can say a lot of things about him, but he dosn't lie about matters concerning our old master.

"I guess I should see if I could talk to him again, anything that relates to Scarlet is important to him." I said to myself "If he says that there's something up with Scarlet than he knows what he's talking about.

* * *

Dexter's point of view

* * *

" Crystal are you sure you're alright?" I asked with true concern in my voice. The sun had been down for at least an hour by then and everyone was starting to settle down for the night. Desmond's squad went with him in the woods to find firewood for the fire Ruby was attempting to start. Night and Razor were conversing by a faraway tree while Dusk and Spark talked closer to camp.

The Glaceon I was speaking to looked up in sadness at the overarching moon in the sky. Her dark blue eyes were filled with incredible emotion, but had a beautiful shine in them. Her cold fur shimmered in the moonlight and made my neckhair stand up. She looked to wonderfully pretty and was such an amazing person, I had to help her any way I could.

"No Dexter I'm not alright. My whole world has been turned on it's head in the last few days. The human that I've spent most of my life with is dead, the friend that I had been with for years isn't with me." she looked down to the grass "I want to travel the world and I'm not going to regret the choice I've made... but it just hurts."

"I can understand that, but don't make memories of your old life cloud this new one." I said in a bright tone "I was a different person before I was caught, I was a darker person. The Pokemon I used to be was a Pokemon I would like to forget. Being with Jack and this group has changed me for the better." I paused "I'm sorry for your loss, but you need to at least try and move on."

"It's just so hard Dexter." I saw tears forming in her eyes as she spoke "Have you ever lost someone close to you?"

I stopped to think for a moment "I-... I never met my parents, but they're most likley dead now. Besides them no one close to me has died, but I have needed to sever ties with a group of Pokemon I loved." Memories of the Pokemon I was talking about rushed into my head as I remembered my past.

"Do you think of them often?" asked the Glaceon.

"All the time." I lied with percison. I never thought of them, I had purposly blocked them out in hopes that I would never have to face them again. But I couldn't tell Crystal that. It wouldn't have helped to situation at all "But I don't live my life by the memories of them."

Crystal looked at me, her eyes were still gathering to hot tears forming in them "You're right Dexter... thank you for the advice."

Taking a step towards her I spoke in a soft voice "Don't worry about it Crystal. I'm just trying to make this whole transition easier on you and I know that I know you the best ..." I looked back on the group "At least out of this little team here."

"You know Dexter-" started Crystal in a chilled, but somehow loving tone "I didn't just join this whole thing because I wanted to travel." she paused as a smile found it's way onto it's face "Being able to spend more time with you has been worth it the whole time. You're so kind and intelligent. I met you to get information and you easily could have just left me at that. But you didn't, you wanted to help Ace and I find our..." her voice trailed as the thought of her trainer came to her head "... but even after I found out the news you insisted in helping us get through it."

The Glaceon looked up at the moon with hope "I barely know you and I'm amazed by you." she looked back at me with her cool eyes "I look forward to learning more about you."

I gave an uneasy smile and nodded. I hoped she wouldn't ever know more about me, I hoped she never had to know all the terrible things I had done in the past. I hoped the Pokemon from my past would never see me again and I hoped that my name change had killed the old me...

... but what would be the point of telling this story if everything went according to plan?

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

The heat from both the fire of my mane and the insilation of my sheets were only the secondary causes to me sleepless night. Thoughts of the situation I was in made it impossible to even attempt to fall asleep.

The darkness of night enveloped my chamber in a comforting way, that was the only thing I found good about not being able to sleep at that moment. For some odd reason I never felt fear when in darkness. Even when I was young I never needed a nightlight or ever needed to be eased when in complete darkness. I always blamed it on the fact that my father was an Umbreon and that I had simply inherited some of his traits, but I had a feeling that it was something more than that.

Sighing I resolved that I would not be receiving the sweat relief of sleep and rolled off my massive bed. Using the blue flames on my back I made my way to the door that lead to my living room. Exiting out of my hot bedroom a cool rush of air hit me and chilled me to the bone. Thinking that I left a window open I trotted over to my balcony windows but was surprised to see that they were closed shut.

Shrugging off the incident I turned and made my way to my feinting couch and collapsed onto it. I wouldn't be sleeping that night, so I resolved to sit and wait for the sun to rise.

As I lay on the couch I felt a strong cold surge hit me like it had before, but this time I reacted much more. Standing up completely I looked around knowing something was up.

"Who's there?" I spoke in a softly demanding voice "Come out now." Surely if there was someone else in my penthouse they would yeild once they saw who I was. Being the friend of Vermilion city's savoir grants a lot of bonuses.

With speed that almost made my heart stop the once bothersome wind pushed me off the ground and forced me back onto my couch with a force. Fear surged into me as I tried to scream, but something kept my throat silenced. My heart beat faster and faster as the shock started to wear down and I started to rationalize thought again.

"Who's doing this!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Suddenly a indefinably dark figure apeared before me glaring down at my cowering figure with deep disdain and disgust. A while form came off on it's head and around it's collar was a red brace of sorts. In any other situation I would feel deeply offended, but in my currently terrified state I only hoped the Pokemon did no harm to me.

"You shouldn't refer to me in such a disrespectful tone Ponyta, it will get you hurt." spoke this figure in a voice deeper than oblivian.

Now physically shaking I struggled to say "W-who are y-y-you..." My nerves reaching their apex I could barley keep myself from just feinting.

The black Pokemon's blue eyes glared straight through me like he was staring directly into my very soul "You dare ask who_ I_ am?" he gave an earthshaking chuckle that seemed more a growl than I laugh "I go by many names Ponyta... the prince of darkness, Oblivion's last spawn, son of darkness, lord of darkness, creator of dark matter, Arceus's devil..." he paused to come even closer to me "But you may simply know me as Darkrai."

I felt my organs literally sink into myself and my level of fear hit the limit and I sincerely thought that I was going to die. Looking right at Darkrai's deep blue eyes I couldn't tell what he had planned for me and with a quick look around I verified that I was alone and no one would be able to save me.

"You fear me Scarlet. As you should, you are looking at the source of fear himself." spoke the dark type "Do you know why I am speaking with you? I'll give you a hint... I'm here because of thinks you couldn't stop."

Still very much shaking I spoke responded " Is it b-because of the Purrloin I'm after?" I said it less like an answer and more like a begging question.

"That's part of it... you and her share something in common." replied Darkrai in a slightly less terrifying tone.

"What else to we share, I just-"

"You share both my intest and my blood." spoke the dark Pokemon in a quick tone "I will not allow you to injure her Scarlet, she is my daughter and I will not stand for it is she is killed." he suddenly rushed at me and stopped just short of hitting my face "Do I make myself clear child?"

Unable to speak I nodded violently and closed my eyes tight to hold in the tears of horror that were coming to my eyes.

"Good." I heard him say "You may still detain her, but I am glad that we are now on the same page. Sleep well..." as his voice faded away I had a sudden rush of drowsiness fall over me and a seamless transition from consciousness to sleep ensued. Looking back on that moment of terror I can now say that night was the beginning of a long series of moments of pure fear

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

I instantly knew that I was in my subconsious from my completly white surroundings. It felt weirdly good to be back into my mind, for some reason I felt safer there than anywhere else.

"Night..." spoke a familiar voice.

Turning around I was glad to see Azelf standing a few feet away from me, even with the disappointment that I felt in him. Giving a smirk I jokingly said "Look you decided to show up, mister Azelf himself."

The legendary Pokemon looked at me with an expression of strong regret that instantly disarmed my sarcasm like a amber eyes showed true sorryness and even the way he stood showed how terrible he must have felt.

"What's wrong, is something up Azelf?" I questioned in a serious tone.

"I'm sorry Night, I'm really sorry." spoke the blue Pokemon "I almost let you die... I just stood there and did nothing."

Taking a step towards him I asked "What?"

Azelf tightened his fists "When you were in the Asylum and Steel was about to kill you after the fight I didn't do anything. Arceus told me not to do anything and I listened to her Night." he took a deep breath "I'm so sorry Night."

Realizing why he was stressed out I couldn't help but give a loud laugh. Azelf looked at me with a look of pure confusion that I was certain legendary Pokemon barley used "That's why you're all sad? Don't worry about it Azelf, you were just doing what you thought was right. I got out of there alright and I'm a stronger Umbreon for it. If you had swooped in to save me I wouldn't of needed to fight was Steel." I smiled "It is nice to see that you did feel bad though... but don't worry about things like that."

Azelf sighed and let himself smile "That's... that's good to hear Night. I'll still try to warn you about dangers though. You have a long way to go to the elite four and there are a lot of Pokemon and humans in the world that will do harm to you." he seemed to suddenly remember something "Speaking of which I need to talk to you about something."

"What another Asylum?" I said with a laugh "Shoot."

Crossing his arms Azelf continued "It's not anything as big as the Asylum, it's just three Pokemon that you really need to worry about. One of them is a name you heard before, Napoleon."

"Napoleon..." I thought about the name "Yeah, that was that guy that Mars was interested in back in the Asylum. Apparently Dusk knew about him, I think he was this Snivy that saved her or something."

"You got the gist of it. He's a famous Snivy from Vermilion city that usually does the right thing. But I've gotten information from Arceus that says he's going after your Purrloin friend."

"Dusk... why would he be going after her... didn't he save her before?" I questioned.

"He did save her, but he's not doing this for no reason. He's helping a friend of his, a shiny Ponyta by the name of Scarlet. She didn't tell me why, but Arceus said that Scarlet was in trouble and was presented with a deal to get out of that trouble. That deal included kidnapping Dusk for some reason." answered Azelf "Keep an eye out of them and protect Dusk best you can but don't but yourself in too much danger."

I nodded "I'll be sure to do that. Now who is the third person I need to watch out for?"

"This last Pokemon is a big deal Night. Scarlet isn't too much of a direct threat from what I've seen and Napoleon is no push over, but he won't kill you. This last Pokemon is in a different league and has been know to kill when it is deemed necessarily. I don't know her name but be on the lookout for a weird looking Bulbasaur. She apparently has a connection with your friends Razor and Dusk as well."

"Razor? Dusk? How would they know someone that just kills Pokemon?" I said continuing with my questions.

"I'm not sure, but Arceus said that is has something to do with an event that happened in Pallet town years ago that Dusk had an active part in. Ask them about it if you want to know more." repied Azelf.

"Okay, I will. I'll be sure to tell them about all this info too." I spoke.

"Whoa wait Night, I forgot to tel you. Do not tell your friends that don't know about me this information. Arceus was serious about that. How weird would it look if you just knew all this stuff?"

I shrugged "I guess that makes sense... but why can't you just come out to them?"

"I can't yet." replied Azelf "You just have to trust me on that Night."

"I do." replied yours truly "Thanks for all the info Azelf, it'll go to good use."

"That's really nice to hear. Take care of yourself Night." he put a paw on my shoulder "I'll be in touch.


	68. Vermilion City: The Master

New chapter up and a lot of information being given out. This ones a biggie and it's just the begining. Hope you like it.

And a question, Who do you like more Dusk or Scarlet.

Just a little side note. I found out that if you type in The Dark Chronicles fanfic on google, this story is the second link! Thanks so much for this guys, I owe everything this story has to you guys and gals!

* * *

"Vermilion city! I told you I knew a short cut!" shouted Jack in an amazingly loud voice.

The city in itself had such a rustic sea town feel. The air wreaked of salty ocean air that seemed to clog any mores I had. It wasn't as busy or packed as Pewter or Cerulean city but still just as loud. Humans and Pokemon walked the streets at a slower less robotic pace. Less humans wore suits and had suitcases and more were dressed casually and seemed to be heading to the beach rather than to a meeting. Even those who looked like they were going to work had a more peppy and relaxed tone to them. Something about this city let you just take a deep breath of air (No matter how terrible it may smell) and love life.

"Yeah whatever. It's a city, you'd have to be blind and stupid not to find it." said Kat as she crossed her arms "You just happen to only be stupid."

Vapor took in a deep breath and exhaled with a large smile on her face "This air is just..." she paused to come up with a word "... magnificent." No doubt Vapor felt like she was in her element. Her being a water type I could understand why her body felt at home near the salty, disgusting, poop infested water of the ocean.

"It's just refreshing to not have to ingest smog really." shrugged Ferne standing next to me " Plus this place seems like everyone knows everyone, that's a feeling you don't get in too many cities."

Using Jack's incredible skill in reading maps we managed to stroll around the city several times before finding the Pokemon center, the whole time with him and Katherine arguing while Desmond attempted to calm them down. Well, when we managed to find it we all noticed that it was in view of the main entrance to the city. At this revelation Kack noted he was quote "Looking around the city" unquote which brought him a swift nudge from Katherine.

Our fairly large group of thirteen mad our way into the Pokemon center and the humans went directly to the desk to ask the resident nurse if they had anywhere to stay. The Pokemon centers, from what I had seen so far, were the same in every city. Perhaps whoever ran them kept them like that to give trainers something familar to look for no matter where they went.

Looking around the buidling I felt like it was much more packed than the centers we had been before so I wasn't incredibly amazed when I heard Jack say "What do you mean there's no space?"

The nurse that creepily looked just like the nurse in Pewter and the one in Cerulean gave my trainer a look of sympathy "Yes I'm sorry kids, it's just we're packed. It's always like this when Napoleon starts battling trainers."

"Napoleon..." said Katherine in a distant voice "I feel like I've heard that name before."

Desmond crossed his arms and smirked "He's the Snivy that's the star of this city. He's known to be a protector of sorts and trainers from all over come just to challenge him to a battle."

Jack lit up like a dusty lamp "Oh really, sounds like a pretty cool guy." he looked back at Spark "We may have to pay him a visit huh Spark?"

Katherine swiped a few locks of hair away from her face "Anyway, do you know any local hotels or anything miss?"

The nurse put a dainty hand to her chin and looked over to her side "I there's a nice hotel just down the street that way, but it might be a little crowded because of who lives across the street."

"And who lives there, this Napoleon chap?" questioned Desmond.

Nurse Joy looked surprised "You really don't know? It's where the daughter of the richest Pokemon family of Kanto. You may have heard of her mother... the company she owns in the main producer of Poke-balls."

"Wow really?" almost shouted Jack "I never would've thought that a Pokemon would be the one to run a company that makes Poke-balls." he took a step back from the nurse "Thanks for the info miss, um, we'll just be on our way."

Within seconds we were back on the streets, except now I had something to think about. This Napoleon guy seemed pretty popular for someone that was going after Dusk. And if he was strong enough to handle a whole slew of challengers there was no way he was a push over. Looking over to Dusk as she walked I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't let some Snivy hurt her, at least while I can stop it.

"Night-" sounded Dusk's voice. I realized I was just looking at her while I was thinking. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Oh-uh-yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking about some things." I replied quickly not wanting to seem like a weirdo.

"What things- if I may ask." said Dusk adding on that last bit to seem polite.

"Probably nothing." added Ruby as she walked next to Dusk "I know you two went through a lot in the Asylum, but that's the only thing interesting about Night, plus he's pretty dumb."

"Does she always talk to you like that?" asked Dusk ignoring Ruby to a degree.

I shrugged "Yeah, but she's an unbearable witch with a capital B so it's mutual I guess."

Ruby was about to respond, but was stopped when she saw a large crowd swarmed around the entrance to the hotel. The building itself was modest, but very well kept with it's rustic feel and homely appearance. It looked bizarre to have such a rowdy crowd outside it, but me being to social creature I was got drawn into it.

"I wonder what's going down." spoke my trainer distantly as he and his human counterparts aproached the slowly growing crowd to see what all the commotion was about.

"Scarlet, Scarlet stop for a picture!"

"How's the mom doing, have you talked with her!"

I interest higtened to previously unknown heights when the name Scarlet hit my eardrums. It was her, the one Azelf had warned me about and it had just hit me that if we stayed at this hotel then Dusk's hunter would be living directly across the street.

Looking up at Jack with urgency I couldn't think of anything to say to him, so I just looked back at the crowd to see if I could catch a glimpse of the Pokemon through the dense crowd as she made her way across the street. I could see her hooves without a doubt, but every time it looked like I would be able to see her some human stepped in my view.

Then, as she crossed the street and entered the large penthouse estate across the street from the hotel the crowd opened up to let her in. As she entered the building I caught a glimpse of her face, or more like her eyes. But that's all I had to see. There was a radiant beauty about them, they were a brilliant blueish-violet that hit you like a train. But there was something sinister about them, a deeper evil that could be seen with the use of deeper inspection. I would have gotten a better look at them, but soon the door closed and I was cut off from looking at her.

"I guess that was that Scarlet girl..." said Jack (No frikin' duh you idiot)

"Yeah, but I didn't even get a good look at her..." started Katherine. She shrugged "Whateves', lets get over to that hotel."

Forgetting about Scarlet for the moment I felt a little warmer walking into the cozy building. Unlike the crowded and stuffed Pokemon center with it's creep unnatural white walls this place had earthy tones all around and a nice little fireplace going in the corner. Standing at the reception desk in the middle of the room was a kind looking male human with a large genuine smile on his face.

"Hello and welcome to the 'Home Away from Home' Hotel... are you here for a room?" asked the human with a smile.

* * *

Razor's point of view

* * *

Within a half an hour all three humans had settled into their new room. For not too much money they had gotten a pretty large room with three bed, a bathroom, and a balcony looking over the penthouse across the street. It felt a little crowded and all with everyone being out and about but it was still very comfortable. After a few minutes of talking our trainers gathered us all up to have a talk.

"Okay guys, I know you've all been walking for the past day just to get here and we know that you're all tired. So we're giving you today to just relax and sleep." started Jack as if he was only talking to Dexter, Spark, and Night.

"It's been a hectic few days for all of us and just like you guys us humans need some time to just hang out." said Katherine "Not to mention that we're also a little hesitant to just let you guys roam the city seeing what happened last time. It's not that we don't trust all of you, we just think it would be best for you guys to just sit tight today."

I could see that logic, I didn't trust myself in this city yet. Looking around I noticed that everyone seemed okay with that and didn't look disappointed (With the exception of Night who always looks bored and disappointed.)

"Not that we're all on the same page we would like to give you guys some space to talk to each other and get to know each other better." spoke Desmond motioning simultaneously to Dusk, Ferne, and Crystal "Treat the newbies well alright, let them know that they're all welcome."

Ruby shot a poison glance at Crystal just to spite Desmond in his attempt to make peace, she wasn't about to back down to the ex-Rocket.

"Now Desmond, Katherine and I are going out for a bit to get some supplies. We know the battles are going to get more and more intense from here on out and want to make sure we can take care of any injuries you guys sustain." added Jack as if he had recently remembered "We should e back in a couple of hours..."

"As long as you don't get us lost again." spoke Katherine sharply at the end.

Jack frowned at the insult and was about to say something about it before Desmond stepped in between them "We should get going then mates," he shot a glace at Jolt "Make sure you make Ferne feel welcome old friend."

The Jolteon nodded and shot Ferne a friendly smile, one that caused Vapor to look awkwardly between him and the Leafeon. I saw how much her self-esteem seemed to depend on Jolt's opinion of her and with him giving Ferne kind looks she looked threatened.

"This is just gonna be great..." said Ruby with a sarcastic tone as she leaned on a nearby wall "Maybe Night'll tell us more about his family? Or maybe little miss Rocket will try to make me like her again."

"Maybe Ruby will finally realize that she needs to stop insulting me before she has a nasty accident." responded Crystal with deadly precision.

In the time it took for this little exchange to happen out trainers had left and we were along to fend for ourselves.

Knowing Ruby the way I do the moment I heard those words come out of Crystal's mouth I know there was going to be and issue. In time I have known the fox she has never backed down from a statement like that, and Crystal would be no exception.

"What did you just say to me Rocket... choose your response wisely, it determines how much blood you'll lose in the next minute." spoke Ruby directing her full attention to Crystal who looked more than ready for a confrontation.

"Come on Rubes, don't do this now..." I pleaded trying to defuse the situation before I got worse.

Crystal put a cold and calculating look on her face and said "You think weak threats are going to break me. I've been observing you over the past day or two and I've come to a collective hypothesis about you're character."

Ruby laughed "Oh really Crystal, and what would that be?"

"That you're a text book example of bi-polar, you have personality swings and you rely deeply on your ability to seem stronger on the outside to conceal yourself from inner pain." started Crystal "It seems that you're, for lack of a better term, a complete and utter bitch."

"Crystal..." said Dexter after the fact. The Espeon looked at Ruby "Any issues you two have can be solved without insults."

"Your little girlfriend started it!" shouted back Ruby, her anger fueled by Crystal's last comment

"It's obvious that Ruby has a problem with Crystal's past in Team Rocket," spoke Ferne as she stepped in "Am I right in assuming this Ruby?"

"Hell yes..." replied Ruby eying Crystal with sinister glances.

"And I have to say I have a problem with it as well." added Spark grasping his blue scarf with a paw "I'm just not as vocal about it."

"Why does everyone hate Team Rocket..." said Dusk in a quiet voice "From what I've seen they don't look all that bad."

Spark crossed his arms and looked at the Purloin as if he was trying to teach her something without making her feel stupid "You must've not heard about all of the associates they do to Pokemon then. Under Giovanni's rule they've illegally captured and sold Pokemon. The ones who resist are usually killed or beaten until they give in. They're the worst beings in all of Kanto and the more time they spend here the darker the world becomes."

"I'd hate to interrupt, but that is completely wrong Spark." replied Crystal "I'll be the first to say that there are some bad people in Team Rocket but overall they are people that are trying to make the world a better place."

Spark didn't believe that for a moment "Is that what they told you to keep your conscience clean? I know for a fact that Team Rocket is only in it for the money."

"We do it in an attempt to unite the world and create peace, did you not hear that part in our pledge? To unite all peoples within our nation. That's what that means." said Crystal defending her position.

"And what if I don't want to be a part of your organization?" accused Ruby "What happens then?"

"The same thing that happened to me, they let you leave if you want to and as long as you don't make trouble they won't bother you." replied the Glaceon in a confident tone "I feel like we'll never resolve this issue, at least not right now. I like you guys, okay. I want to be a part of this and try my best to do my job. I'm not part of Team Rocket anymore and I don't see myself returning anytime soon." Crystal sighed and looked right at Ruby "I'm sorry for insulting you Ruby and I hope we can learn how to work together."

"What so now you just suddenly feel bad about cursing at me, bull crap." snapped Ruby as she disregarded the ice type's words.

Crystal looked away from the fox and responded with "I;m sorry if you don't trust me Ruby, but that wasn't like me... ever since my trainer..." she paused as if she couldn't bring herself to say it "... I just haven't been myself."

From the way Ruby's expression changed after Crystal had said that I could tell that she felt a little bad. Quelling her previously heated anger she put her ears down and said hesitantly "I'm sorry about your trainer and I guess I can keep quiet about the Team Rocket thing for now.."

Crystal let a small smile onto her face as she spoke "Thank you Ruby. Maybe sometime we could have a better talk and resolve all of our issues."

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

I couldn't stop thinking about what Black had said even as I went to go see my old master. From his tone I knew he was serious... when it comes to me Black never kids around. He wanted me to stop associating with Scarlet or he was going to come after me. There was no way I would turn on Scarlet seeing we had known each other since we were children but at the same time I had known Black for years and didn't feel like losing a ally and a close friend. Black and I had been through so much together, but also had disputes and disagreements; it was just terribly sad knowing that I was Scarlet that would be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Refocusing myself on the task at hand I found myself in an old abandoned house on the outskirts of Vermilion city, the location that my master lives when he is in town. He always preferred isolated areas over the densely populated cities of Kanto and for some reason insisted that the only light he needed was natural sunlight and moonlight. Him being my master I never once questioned him way of living seeing that he had made me into the Snivy I am today.

As I approached the old house I smiled as I noticed it was still the same house I remembered. It was a burnt yellowish color mostly with the exception of the long dried out paint chips that fell from the sides every now and then. It's arched roof had a large gaping hole in it from long ago and was most likely the reason the original residents left, but my master saw it as a nice portal to the sky. The windows that weren't broken had ages of dust and dried blood on them, something I never asked about but I always assumed someone had been killed. The area around the house was devoid of any plant life or healthy soil. The house had a sinister air to it, but at the same time it was comforting. I felt at home there and as I knocked on the door I remembered all the times I had done the same action.

"Come on in Napoleon, the door's open."

I pulled the door open with a loud creek and looked around. It was a one room house with the remains of a couch, a bed, a fireplace, a rug , and a television scattered about. A spot on the carpet was illuminated from the hole in the roof where dust danced in the light. Broken floor boards showed where the foundation was weak and gave viewers a peak into the pitch black cellar below. Empty picture frames dotted the walls and the whole house creaked as if it was struggling to hold itself up.

Standing in the middle of the room was my master. In the relative darkness his blue rings stood out on his jet black fur. His yellow eyes showed focus, intelligence, and kindness. He wore a warm smile on his face, but it seemed more than that. Not like he was just smiling with his muscles, but with his soul.

"How did you know it was me?" I asked stepping into the room with a loud creek.

"I could tell from the walk pattern that a two legged being was coming." he responded in a calm tone.

Smirking I crossed my arms "But that could have just been Claire..."

"But Claire has a stressed walk, one that's fast and wants to get were it needs to go. Your walk is slower and more precise and eons more graceful." replied my master "What is it that brings you to my home?"

"It's actually Black sir, he said that he had visited you..." I started.

My master nodded "Yes he did..."

"And he said that you told him something about Scarlet, something bad-" I said leading him on.

"My daughter... yes I did talk to Black about Scarlet." responded the Umbreon with a tone that grew more and more serious.

"What did you tell him-master" I added on that last part to get more out of him.

The masterful Umbreon smirked "I'll tell you all you want to know as soon as you can get across this room in silence."

I sighed, this was going to be another one of his tests. Even though he had officially graduated me years before the master was always testing the abilities he taught us, the primary ones being stealth and combat.

"Really sir?" I questioned "Is this needed?"

He nodded "I had Black do it, I think it's fair that I have you do it as well."

Following his request I analyzed the floor to locate the optimal path to take. Quickly I saw there was a straight way with no broken- I stopped myself. "You said I had to make it to you without making a sound?" I asked.

"Yes." replied my master.

Without delay I lashed out with a vine whip attack and grabbed on to one of the exposed wooden beams used to hold the house up. Pulling it back to me I was lifted up and off the ground, went though the air, detached from the beam, and landed on silent feet in front of my master.

"Excellent job Napoleon." praised my teacher.

I rolled my eyes "Thanks, now please tell me about Scarlet... it's urgent."

"Fine." responded my master getting back to business "There's a problem I've been faced with Napoleon and out of all of my students I trust you with this." he paused "My daughter trusts you more that anything in the world and would tell you anything but that same openness is something I can't extend to her, at least not yet. There's a power within her, a power she inherited from me and something she will need to live with for the rest of her life."

"What is it?" I asked to quench my curiosity.

"The same power residing in the Purloin you are trying to hunt down." answered the Umbreon.

"What? What does that mean?" I asked in a frantic voice "How is it that Scarlet got the power from you and the Pur-"

"Because she got it from me as well." said the Umbreon definitively "She is my blood."

The weight of this information caused me to become silent. What are the odds that my master's daughter would be hunting for her own sister. Overcoming my own emotions I spoke "The Purloin is your daughter? Does Scarlet know she has a sister?"

"Half sister, and no she doesn't" said my master in a distant tone.

"And she doesn't know about this secret power thing she has?" I asked again.

"That's the other thing I wanted to tell you about. Ever since both of them were born they haven't been able to tap into that power, perhaps they've just never needed it before, and that's why I'm worried."

"Why, isn't it good they haven't found it?" I asked.

"No really. I want to protect Scarlet, but I also want to protect my other daughter. I'm letting you capture my other daughter but I want you to be aware of the fact that she might break and release that power on you and Scarlet." he paused to look me dead in the eye "Napoleon I need you to understand that once this happens you will not be able to beat her alone. Let her go once she does break."

I shrugged "I guess that will be okay. Our part of the deal was to get the Purloin, not keep her."

"It won't be okay if Scarlet feels that she or you is in danger. That may make her break and release her dark energy and the last thing I want is for both of my daughters to go all out against each other." My master's eyes had a look of real fear in them.

"It won't happen, I'll make sure of that." I said to reassure him "And I won't tell Scarlet about this info, I think she'd want you to tell her."

"You're right, and thank you Napoleon." The Umbreon smiled again to let me know he was pleased.

"Just one more thing master..." I said with another question on my mind "How did you obtain this dark power?"

"Napoleon do you remember what I said at the beginning of our conversation?" replied my master as if he saw the question coming.

"Yes, you said you would tell me everything I wanted to know." I said still thinking he would answer my last question.

"Believe me Napoleon..." said the Umbreon as he looked out a window to Vermilion city "That is something you don't want to know."


	69. Vermilion City: In Over our Heads

A litte bit of a shorter chapter this time. This chapter serves a different purpuse than most of the ones in this story so far... ah, I'm just talking again. I wanted also to thank all of you guys for reviewing and getting this story above the 200th review mark. Serious you guys, you are awesome. Thanks for all the support and for driving me onwards.

This chapter's question- who do you think is the strongest Pokemon (Excluding legendary pokemon) in the story right now. This includes Pokemon that are not in the main group.

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"You managed to find the gym in less than an hour, I'm amazed..." gaped Katherine looking up at the sea-side building. Behind us the ocean water rushed up agaist the wall of rocks that prevented us from being drowned. Salty spray filled the air and attached to my fur as the sun looked down at our group in interest. Being a grass type I found the coastal atmosphere to be soothing at heart, but at the same time the blades I use for weapons were feeling uneasy in my wrists.

"I knew you had it in you Jack," said my trainer in is fedora and light vest "Are you sure we're up for the gym yet through?" he asked.

"I just wanna give it a shot, we got here today, so why not challenge the gym leader? If we lose we can just try again." spoke the goth human with a nonchalant tone. It seemed irresponsible to just go head on into a battle when everyone isn't really prepared for it. We hadn't even been in Vermilion city for a day and I was still getting used to being captured.

I wasn't aware of how strong the Pokemon in the Vermilion gym were but I knew that I would be my trainers best Pokemon and his best chance at beating the gym leader. Not to be arrogant, but I had heard from Spark that Jolt was Desmond's first Pokemon and I had beat him with a little more than half my effort. Looking up at the human I felt confident in him, but I wasn't sure if I was strong enough to handle Pokemon after Pokemon in a battle.

"Well uh, I guess we should go in..." spoke Katherine as she approached the door.

As we entered the gym it was obvious that whoever was the gym leader was a serious competitor. Unlike the other gyms I had seen this one had no benches or places for spectators to sit. I would say there was about twenty or so people in the gym, all of them forced to stand up and watch the battle that was going on at the moment.

In the battle area there was a young male young male human wearing a weird blue jumpsuits of sorts, almost like improved scuba diving wear. His blonde hair went down to his neck in length and it looked very well taken care of. His expression was one of extreme stress and once I realized what was really going on I noticed why.

Looking to his opponent I figured the older human male to be the gym leader. He was a light skinned human with spiky, dirty blond hair and sported obsidian black sun glasses that covered his eyes. The human sported a green camouflage sleeveless t-shirt, desert camo fatigue pants that were neatly tucked into black ankle-high boots. He had a confident air about him and there was no doubt that he was some sort of military aficionado.

One the actual arena floor there was an Electabuzz and a very banged up Chikorita that looked like she was about to faint. The Electabuzz stood strong and ready to take orders from his calm trainer wilts the Chikorita's trainer spouted out commands that his Pokemon just wasn't following.

"Come on Chikorita, don't give up! Use Razor Leaf!" shouted the boy. His Chikorita shook it's head and managed to lob a couple of sloppy razor leaves at the Electabuzz.

"Don't we know him?" asked Katherine poking Jack in the arm.

Night's trainer nodded while keeping his focus on the battle "Yeah, he and his sister were the two trainers that battled you on the road to Pewter city."

The gym leader crossed his arms "I think this battle has gone on long enough, finish her was a thunder punch private."

"Yes Sir!" spoke the Electabuzz as he sidestepped the razor leaf attack. In that same movement he charged at the dazed grass type with violent intentions. Jumping in the air as he approached the electric type gave out a yell as he pulled back a fist. In climactic fashion the Pokemon's hand sparked with jolts of energy and it collided with the Chikorita's face.

Hitting the ground the Chikorita's form slid across the dirt floor of the battle area and came to rest in front of her trainer, the whole time in silence. Taking a quick glace at the fellow grass type I wasn't surprised to see her very much knocked out.

"Chikorita..." whispered the distraught trainer with a frown.

A battle coordinator with a white flag raised his instrument in the air and declared "Chikorita is unable to battle, Lt. Surge is the victor." The various amount of watchers cheered and clapped apparently satisfied with how the battle had gone.

"Oh man he just kicked that chick's ass." said Razor with a laugh "Not as bad as Rubes fried her on the road but still..."

"You fought that Chikorita before Ruby?" I asked with interest.

The fox shrugged "Yeah, we got into it before we got to Pewter city. Wiped the floor with her sorry butt too."

The losing trainer quietly recalled his defeated Pokemon and turned to exit the gym in an attempt to save face... or at least he was before he locked eyes with Jack and Katherine. "You two..."

"Nice to see ya douchebag, looks like you lost the battle." said Katherine with a smirk "But then again that's only coming from the girl with the weak Vulpix right?"

"Stop being like that Kat." inturupted Jack "Sorry that you lost, maybe you'll-"

With rudeness that was blatant the boy in the jumpsuit walked past Jack and left the gym without a word.

"-do better next time?" finished Jack unsure how to react to being dismissed.

"Excellent job private, go in the back and have a rest. Dismissed." said Lt. Surge in a strong tone.

Saluting his trainer the Electabuzz marched into a back door and left without a scene.

"And look at that, do I have more challengers today?" shouted the gym leader bringing his attention to our group "Not often I see a group of trainers walk in with all of their Pokemon out. Are you all here to challenge me?"

"We are sir." said Desmond stepping towards the gym leader. Taking his hat off and pressing it against his chest my trainer held out his hand "We would like to challenge you this fine day."

Smiling Surge grasped Desmond's hand and shook it firmly "It's nice to see a young man that's so polite, of course I'll expect a challenge from a man such as yourself," he looked up at Katherine "And a young women like you." Finishing his shake he glaced at Jack "But you kid, what's up with your hair? It's all spiky and red."

Jack looked shocked to be oberved like that and scratched his head uncomfortably "Oh this? It's just a little red dye to make the black hair stand ou-"

"Wash it out."

"What?"

"Wash it out or a won't battle you." said Surge crossing his arms "Get it done soldier!"

Brushing a bang from his eyes Jack responded in a confused tone with "Excuse me?"

"Did I stutter, wash your hair son. " Looking back at Desmond Surge took his glasses off revealing stark black eyes "Since you asked first I'll give you the honor of going up against me first."

Desmond smiled and looked back at me Jolt and Vapor "It would be an honor sir."

* * *

Within a minute I stood next to Desmond as he prepared to have his battle, my confidence strong and my trust in my trainer was stronger. Flanking me was Jolt and Vapor who I felt like were worthy comrades. I understood that my opponents would be electric type, meaning that Vapor (No matter how sweet she was) would be of decreased use and the burden would fall on Jolt and I.

Lt. Surge cracked his knuckles and lowered his sunglasses "You ready for this kid?"

Desmond, who had taken off his hat and was holding it to a leg, nodded "I'm set."

The battle coordinator raised a flag "The challenger and the gym leader are going to engage in a Pokemon battle. Both of they will be allowed to use three Pokemon each. The challenger is allowed to swap Pokemon at any time, but the gym leader is not. Pokemon will battle until they are deemed unable to fight or surrender, is that agreed upon?"

Desmond and Surge nodded.

"Good, then let the battle begin!" the human waved a flag and it was on.

Lt. Surge expanded a Poke-ball and smirked "Go to work Pvt. Voltorb, make this happen."

A red light came out of the orb and materialized into a Pokemon that could easily be mistaken as a Poke-ball on steroids. From the looks of it the guy looked like we was a little to excited to battle too. The Voltorb's huge eyes scanned the battle area with a veracity and greed for violence and locked eyes with mine.

Almost like Desmond saw this he looked down at me and smiled "Give it your best shot Ferne, I know you can do it."

Nodding at him with determination I stepped into the battle, ready for anything. Untieing my bandana with ease I threw it to the side not wanting to get it dirty.

Surge got the first move in as he ordered "Voltorb, start of with a quick charge attack and follow up with spark."

"Ferne don't even let him start, use razor leaf!" shouted Desmond with force.

Not doubting my trainer's plan I sprung into action and attacked with a deadly accurate razor leaf attack. At the speed I sent those bad boys out there was no way they weren't doing some damage.

"Forget it soldier, us rollout!" commanded Surge in a stern voice.

With a sinister smile on his face the Voltorb suddenly broke out in a roll at break neck speeds. My trusted razor leaf attack ricocheted off the spinning Voltorb like nothing and flung into the dirt. Trusting my instincts I

"Ferne use poison powder, quick." said Desmond still very calm.

Puffing out a cloud out poison I jumped over the incoming Voltorb and effectively injured him. The crowd cheered and I landed on my feet very satisfied with myself. So far the Voltorb had shown that he didn't have the ability to think on own, never mind on it's feet. On top of that I was much more fit than him and appeared to have more battle experience that the witless idiot.

_'This should be a breeze.' _I thought

I smirked as I saw the Voltorb was using rollout again and I prepared to dodge.

"Okay private, attack plan beta, go!" shouted Surge.

That is where I made my first mistake of the battle, I ignored that and just focused completely on moving out of the way. Just to test myself I made a mental note to try and dodge at the last moment.

"Dodge this one too Ferne, then attack with tackle." spoke Desmond still very collected.

I planted my feet and prepared for just another roll-out attack, but I got something a little different. Like a tire the Voltorb stopped on a dime less than a couple of feet from my face. I caught his eyes as I saw his mouth open and a sound worse than hell enter my ears. Cringing I heard several voices whine and scream as the Screech attack did it's job. Instantly my sensitive ears exploded in agony and I was desperate for it to stop Just wanting to end the noise I held my ears to my head and closed my eyes tight.

"Ferne focus up, stand up and fight back." shouted Desmond through the terrible sound.

I tried, and don't let anyone tell you I didn't. Nothing I tried to do could overide that instict to just hold my ears and wait for the sound to end. Opening my eyes I looked around and noticed that no one was even reacting anymore, and I had no idea what was going on. It looked like the sound had stopped for them, but for me it just kept going. The screech just kept going on and on, like o hundred Sneasals running it's jagged claws on a chalkboard.

I caught sight of Desmond, who looked more than worried. He opened his mouth and was talking but I couldn't hear anything over the terrible noise.

Suddenly a sharp pain erupted from my back and I screamed in pain, but I couldn't even hear that over the still overwhelming screech attack. I felt my muscles tense up and force me into a fetal position. As I lay there in shock I felt the screech slowly fade and my senses sharpen up again. From the way my body had reacted I deduced that I had been hit by some type of electric attack. I legs twitched from leftover electric charge and I gave a deep breath to get myself back in the game.

"Ferne dodge!" shouted Desmond, his calm tone gone.

I didn't notice anything at first, not the pain, not even the ground as I hit it. All I knew is that a loud and very obvious popping sound from my shoulder. Trying to catch myself I couldn't make my arm react and I tumbled to the floor. The instant I hit the ground my body kicked in I knew my shoulder was dislocated. My lungs jutted out all the air inside me as my screams filled the battle hall. I've been in many situations where I've been forced to deal with a lot of pain. I've been stabbed, punched, tackled, even tossed off moving objects, but nothing compared to the pure agony of feeling your humorous rub against your scapula joint. Hot tears erupted from my eyes as my and my good paw clawed at the dirt in an attempt to quell the agony.

"Ferne!" shouted out Night from the sidelines in an intensely concerned voice.

Looking over to my trainer I saw worry in his eye with a bit of disappointment. I had failed him, I'd messed up and now he would be one Pokemon down.

"Leafeon is unable to battle, the challenger has two Pokemon left." said the battle coordinator out of my line of sight.

Despite the situation Desmond still managed to smile "Good battle Ferne," he took out my Poke-ball and opened it. A feeling of failure came over me as I was sucked into the ball and my only thought was hope that Jolt and Vapor could somehow edge out and win.

_"You failed Ferne..." _said the voice of my brothers in my head _"But then again, what else is new?"_


	70. Vermilion City: Alpha Bravo and so Forth

And I present before you a fresh chapter ripe for the reading. Since last chapter had no real story advancement I had to give you guys a taste of things to come and introduce some big players. Like I said before, Vermilion is going to be big and lots of stuff is gonna go down and Night and the gang will be in for it.

And two questions for you (one you can't answer until reading the chapie.)

Do you think Team Rocket is "evil" and do you think the characters introduced in this chapter are "evil"?

Enjoy!

* * *

I gave a calm sigh as my prediction came true and Ferne fell. I knew from past experience and by running the numbers in my head that there was a very small chance of Ferne actually winning that battle. From what I knew about her Ferne was an outstanding fighter... when she had the choice of using her blades. I would even say that she could probably beat me if she had those things at her disposal. However, this wasn't that kind of fight. It was a fair fight with no blades or tricks, just a straight up gym battle and she couldn't handle it.

Looking around me I saw how everyone seemed a little shocked back into reality. They assumed that Ferne would win and that Desmond would win the gym battle. I'll admit as well, I thought the grass type would be victorious as well. But that was before I thought about my life and how the last few days had been for this little group of mine. So far we have: survived attacks from armed Pokemon wanting to kill us, successfully extract someone from a secret facility on lock down, beat the water gym leader in one try, and managed not to get killed throughout the whole ordeal. We had done things so far that were not in our favor, and it was only a matter of time until our luck ran out and we hit a wall. Ferne hadn't trained with Desmond at all and she him had not gotten practice in communication.

"Man... Ferne got her butt handed to her, I didn't think I'd ever see her lose." spoke Night next to me in gaping shock "Looks like Desmond only has Jolt left as an option, there's no way my sister will put up much of a fight in this gym."

"I wouldn't count your sister out yet Night." I responded with a calm tone "She can handle herself, and I expect Jolt to do much better than Ferne did."

"The challenger has lost one usable fighter, he will be allowed to use three more." said the referee on the side.

I could feel Desmond's stress from here. From his point of view he would need to use Jolt to the best of his ability and then hope that Vapor can finish off anyone that the electric type couldn't handle

The human looked down at his trusted companion and smiled "You up for this old friend, I need you for this one."

Nodding with determination the Jolteon stepped into the battle area to continue what his fallen ally had started. Looking at him again I felt like I respected him. He had saved my life back in Cerulean city, he had saved me even though he had no idea what kind of danger he might have stepped in. Not only that, but after his action he acted as if it was nothing... something that really resonated with me. I knew he had little chance of actually winning the battle, but I quietly wished him the best of luck.

"You read for round two kid?" spoke Lt. Surge pulling his sunglasses down a bit.

"Of course, hope you're ready for this one." replied Desmond, placing his stripped blue and gray fedora on his thin blond hair.

"Good, Voltorb... same plan this time. I want you to perfect this technique." Surge made a tight fist "Go."

In familiar fashion, the Voltorb started out with a roll-out attack and charged at Jolt. Dust kicked up in the air in a trail behind the speeding ball, making a thin veil of dirt behind Jolt's foe.

"Alright Jolt, jump over him. You much faster them him, use it to your advantage." commented Desmond.

Following his trainer's orders with precision Jolt bid his time and jumped at the last possible moment. Jumping about 3 feet in the air the athletic electric dog landed with light feet, turned facing a confused Voltorb.

Getting a good look at the Voltorb I noticed just how much the battle with Ferne had hurt him. The poison-powder that Ferne had launched at him was starting to affect his ability to fight. On top of it he looked fatigued from using roll-out multiple times and didn't look like he could go for very long.

Fighting through the pain in a way I hadn't expected the Voltorb bit it's tongue and rolled at Jolt with increased speed. He had to hustle more, but Jolt expertly sidestepped the attack with relative ease.

Smiling Surge said "Good, now use Screech again!"

"-Jolt move back quick now!" yelled Desmond fraction's after Surge's command.

Jolt was easily 10 feet back by the time the Screech attack went off. Focusing through the noise I was able to withstand the attack with minimum annoyance, but my companions and the on lookers were not as fortunate. Humans and Pokemon alike cringed as the sounds of the second screech attack rand through their ears. Jolt kept his head through the attack and was able to not loss it like Ferne.

"Quick attack, this is your chance Jolt!" shouted Desmond through the noise with his hands over his ears.

Seeing his chance to strike Jolt, in a burst of speed, tore through the terrible sound-waves put against him and struck the Voltorb in the jaw of his open mouth. The ball had been silent the whole time, but when Jolt hit him a howl of pain bounced off the gym walls. There was no doubt he was done as he rolled across the floor and settled in front of his trainer.

"Oh my Gawd!" yelled Night with unbridled passion "Jolt you decked him!"

"Sorry about that mate, nothing personal." said Jolt after the point to the Voltorb, "Good battle."

"Voltorb is unable to fight, the gym leader has 3 Pokemon left." said the Battle referee.

Surge smiled "Good job private," he returned the fallen Pokemon "Get some rest soldier, your commanding officer will handle this next one..."

* * *

Point of view ?

* * *

"It's good to see you again bro, it's been a busy couple of days for us." Spoke the Eevee evolution before me with a happy smile on his face. His radiant rusty eyes had a look of fraternity in them and a look kindness in them. His metal fur was smooth against his sleek form, his tail and ears were low and formed by curved, thin, metal wire.

Me and him were one of the same though. I looked at him with my pale purple eyes and stood next to him with a similar smile on my face. My light purple fur hugged my body and separated me from the rest of my Eevee brethren. My ears were slumped at the sides of my head but still very much alert. I'm sure that someone else that is telling this story has described me, so I hope that you remember me. The only thing that I didn't put on display when you first saw me was the mane of gas that surrounded me neck.

At the time we were meeting in an abandoned warehouse in Vermilion city after completing both our current objectives. Sunlight infiltrated through various broken windows. Trash and debris were scattered across the floor and the sounds of the city were in the distance.

I laughed "It has... it's tiring how many things Giovanni has had us do."

"But that's what happens when you're at the top, you get all the hard assignments." responded my sibling.

He was right... being part of the best team that the Rocket's had brought in a lot of top level work. My brother and I had worked hard to get to the top, and once we were there we felt like we were unstoppable.

"Oh, you're both here. Good, I was getting tired of waiting." spoke a familiar female voice.

Sighing in recognition, I turned me head to face the Pokemon with little emotion "Amethyst..."

The Delcatty that my brother and I had been forced to work with for the last couple of years waddled into view. Most Pokemon of her kind sported thin, athletic forms but Amethyst was anything but. To be polite the feline had gained a good bit of weight, but still managed to keep herself beautiful. Being a subject of Rocket testing like my brother and I the cat had been altered from her natural state. She looked at me with sharp, red eyes filled with intense thought. A mane of well kept red fur surrounded her wide neck and gray fur hugged her large form. Red ears poked out of her head and listened to me with attention. Amethyst was an interesting Pokemon, but without her by brother and I couldn't do what we did.

My brother smirked "Amethyst... you lost weight!" his sarcasm dripped with every word he said.

"Shut up Rust..." replied Amethyst with a quick tone before looking to me "Acid, did the re-test of the blood sample from the Purloin come back?"

I frowned "Hello to you too, and yes they did. Just like the first one this test didn't see anything out of the ordinary in the cells. No DNA mutation, no virus and no parasites. From what we can tell she's just a normal Pokemon."

Amethyst nodded and sat "That's what I knew would happen. Those idiots at command insisted I had gotten something wrong, that never happens." She looked away from me "I never screw up. I'm starting to question whether or not this whole operation is necessary."

"And what ever could you mean princess, I think Rocket command knows-" started my brother.

"I think we need to make sure that we aren't making Napoleon and Scarlet do something that isn't needed." responded the feline "I just don't want to be wasting time."

"Speaking of Napoleon and Scarlet, who did we send to work with the Galactic operative?" I asked with peaked interest.

Amethyst gave a rough sigh "That ingrate Claire, I'm amazed she didn't manage to screw that up... anyway I'm forgetting why I asked you two to come here." she paused to look at both of us "We've gotten a new assignment."

"From?" asked Rust as he took a step towards the Delcatty.

"Our master." she said bluntly.

"You know he hates it when we call him that, he prefers trainer." I complained.

Amethyst rolled her crimson eyes " It doesn't matter what I call him, he's second in command of Team Rocket so I doubt he cares."

"Whateves, what does he want us to do?" asked Rust "I'm just shaking in my boots to find out."

"This is a big one boys, the biggest thing we've done next to the Asylum. We do this right we'll be in charge and'll be able to be huge asses like Rust. When I tell you about it it may not seem like it, but this is the largest opportun-" started Amethyst.

"Big... large... huge ass... I don't know doll, so far it sounds like you're just talking about yourself fatass." joked Rust.

"Shut up and let her talk," After berating my sibling I looked back at the Delcatty "What is it?"

"Simple, we protect the Pokemon that escaped with the Purloin. We make sure that the forces trying to kill him in this city don't succeed. " said the cat.

A little bummed my brother whined "That's it, protect that Umbreon and we get attention? We can do that easy."

"What a minute, who are we protecting him from?" I inquired.

"That's the thing... we have to protect him from Team Galactic's best team..." said Amethyst with a dark tone. "The team that used to be run my none other than the infamous Requiem." a smile filled with ambition found it's way onto the cat's face "We do this, and we'll be gods.

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

I can't lie to you... or wait, I can. Never mind that... I choose not to lie to you when I say I almost laughed when Surge sent out his next Pokemon. The Pokemon was about two thirds the size of Spark and sported scouting goggles on his head. Black paint was under his eyes and he was already in a combat stance. The small mouse had accent's of blue on his body, but besides that he was the spitting image of a baby Pikachu.

"He's kinda cute." said Razor in a high pitched voice.

I nudged Spark "Looks like he could be your little brother Spark."

"Maybe, if I was a cut littl-" spoke Spark before we was overshadowed by the smaller rat.

"Major Minum reporting for duty, sir!" shouted the little guy with a salute.

"Major Minum!" I yelled, unable to keep in my enjoyment "Are you serious, Major Minum? That has to be planned... that like, the best thing I've ever heard."

The Minum pointed at me with a swift finger "Silence riff-raff, I'll have your court marshaled. What's your rank soldier?"

Snickering as I said it I said "Nothing dude, I'm not in the army-"

"Then you have no right to disrupt our battle maggot," he looked at Jolt "You've defeated my private... very impressive. You're a worthy opponent."

Jolt blinked "Thank you? Good luck."

Desmond put a hand in his pocket "Jolt, try out a pin missile attack."

"Dodge Major, then counter attack." commanded Surge.

Following the brit's orders Jolt set his stance and let loose a plethora of little needles headed straight for the military Minum. From my point of view it looked like the mouse Pokemon had no chance of dodging it, but this speed that defied logic the Minum jumped over the main part of the attack with a paw grasping something. Hitting the ground the mouse charged Jolt, kicking up dust along the way. Once within about ten feet the Major stopped on a dime and threw and object at Jolt with the quick move of an arm.

Jolt let out a quick scream as something hit is face. Taking a closer look at Jolt I saw a small pin was sticking out of his nose. The Minum must have jumped over most of the pins, snatched one from beneath him, and then threw it at Jolt to distract him... it seemed I misjudged to Pokemon. (Oops)

"Jolt, refocus." said Desmond trying his hardest to keep his cool.

Unable to even react Jolt was slugged in the chin my the quick mouse. His neck exposed the Minum took the chance and punched him in the throat. Gagging from the attack Jolt fell to the ground with his paws around his neck.

"Come on Jolt, move!" shouted Vapor with urgency.

Coming to life Jolt rolled out of the way of the incoming punch from the Minum and let loose a sudden thunder wave attack. The waves of electricity expanded from Jolt's body and pushed the attacking Minum back.

"Good move Jolt, now use tackle!" yelled Desmond.

Jolt got his footing and brought the attack to his enemy. Major Minum, who was still recovering from the thunder-wave attack, wasn't prepared to have a Jolteon drop him. Jolt stood over the downed Minum and prepared to make a move.

"Good Jolt, now headbutt." spoke Desmond, visibly happy with Jolt's movements.

With a yell Jolt slammed his head into the Minum's face, which looked very painful for both parties involved. Before Jolt could do it again though Major Minum kicked the Jolteon in a hind leg and forced Jolt to fall right into a kick to the gut. Again and again Jolt was hit by the Minum's now very fast kicked.

"Jolt, use thunder-shock!" shouted Desmond in worry.

"Minum, copycat." said Surge with his hands in his pocket.

Knowing what was about to happen I hoped that Jolt would be able to stand the world of pain he was about to be in. Jolt charge up his attack as the Minum under him gasped his legs and prepared to do the same. With a valiant scream Jolt launched the attack with a bright light. Instantly Minum did the very same and the already overwhelming attack became large. Screams of agony erupted from both Jolt and his enemy. The pain fest continued for several seconds before the circuit stopped.

Jolt stood over the still Minum with his back to me, his breath was steady but pained. His legs shook with weakness as he struggled to keep from fainting. But his attempt was proven futile when he sighed and collapsed to the floor.

"Both the challenger and the gym leader have lost a Pokemon, the gym leader has two Pokemon left and the challenger has one." said the referee.

Desmond gave a weak smile and recalled Jolt "Good job old chap, you did well." he looked over to the gym leader "You said you have two Pokemon left?"

Surge nodded as he recalled Minum "Why, you not up for this?"

Desmond looked down at Vapor with worry. He knew that there was a very small chance that the Vaporeon would even last a second against Surge's Pokemon. "Vapor... I can't let you go out there."

Vapor quickly protested "No, I want to fight!"

"If you got badly hurt I..." the human paused as he put his hat back on "I'd never forgive myself love." Desmond knelt down and cupped Vapor's face in his hands "I'm doing this for you, okay." Standing up Desmond looked at Surge "I surrender, you win."

"What? Your giving up Des, just like that?" questioned Jack and I shared his thoughts. Even if Vapor might have lost I wouldn't have stopped her from even trying. Looking at Vapor I could see her confidence plummet as her trainer made a choice for her.

"That's really unlike him, hope he didn't just embarrass Vapor." said Spark with his arms crossed.

I sighed "That's not what I'm worried about Spark..." I saw the life disappear from Vapor's eyes "...that's not what I worried about.


	71. Vermilion City:A Fox,A Snake, and a Pony

A quicker update for you, but a shorter chapter. I thought it was important to finish (or start off) this story arch without having it intrude on others. Hope you enjoy it!

And a question- Do you feel bad for Black?

Enjoy!

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

Standing on a quiet rooftop in Vermilion city I had he chance to think about the situation I had thrust myself in. I was in the process of breaking the law, doing something I would have never thought of attempting just days before. Not only that, but I was about to cause more stress and injury to a Pokemon that had to go through the Asylum. Clenching a hand against the skin of my face I tried to rationalize it again my thinking I was doing it for Scarlet. I kept telling myself she had gotten mixed up in the wrong business and didn't deserve to be in the predicament she was in. I kept thinking she was still the innocent girl I knew in Unova and that it was her mother's fault she had made the wrong choices. I had to tell myself that, because excepting any other reality would mean that I was in the wrong.

And there was no way I could ever be in the wrong, I would find it unacceptable.

I coughed "Damn it Scarlet..." under my breath "You'd better straighten yourself out after this." I started to have that urge to travel the world with a trainer again. After spending months in a city were a gym leader was I had seen countless humans challenge Surge with their trusted Pokemon. There was a bond that was between them, something that could only come from two different species working together towards a common goal. As I watched them battle I felt envious of them. Even with all the celebrity and fame that came with being the protector of a city there was a certain emptiness that went along with it. I wanted to get caught, and bad... I just had to find the perfect trainer "I might not be able to protect you for too long."

My eyes pushed my mind back into the real world as I caught site of something. A group of trainers and their Pokemon were making their way down the street. The blond male human in front (Who I must say was dressed in an excellent outfit) was displaying textbook signs of stress as he glared at a downcast Vaporeon that was keeping pace with him. But that's not what I cared about, I cared about the Umbreon that was looking at the water Eevee with care. Umbreon's are not commonplace, even in Johto, so I instantly wondered if this was the Umbreon that had escaped the Asylum.

Kneeling down to get a better look I scanned the rest of the moving group with hopes to find a Purloin.

_'A Vulpix... a goth... an Espeon and a Glaceon...' _I thought _'This is a weird bunch o-'_

All my thoughts stopped the instant I spotted her. My heart clenched with terror and bled with sympathy. I knew this Pokemon, I had met her. She no longer sported the beige satchel around her neck and her eyes were a crimson red, but I was certain that I was looking at her again.

Sitting down from the pure shock of the event I didn't entirely know how to proceed. I couldn't even calculate the chances that I would be in the current situation _'How is it possible that this could even happen! There's almost no chance that I would not only save this Purloin from danger, but also make sure she gets out of the city okay... then she gets locked in the Asylum for who knows why... Scarlet then proceeds to give the Rocket's information on the place and they shut it down... said Purloin then joins with this trainer or something and ends up doing something to give Galactic and Rocket a reason to send me after her...' _I tightened my fists and sighed _'Pity then... it seems I'll have to hunt her down and plan accordingly...'_

I stood back up and saw them enter a hotel, and of course the hotel was across the street from Scarlet's penthouse.

In my frustration I punched the cobblestone rooftop I was standing on "You've **got **to be kidding me..."

* * *

Black's point of view

* * *

I had been glaring at my old friend for so long it felt like I was in my own personal world. The last time I had seen him the threat of death had escaped my mouth, and at the moment I was serious. I had told myself I would follow through on my promise if he refused to turn in Scarlet, but just like I had expected the Snivy was stern in his thoughts.

It didn't make sense, I had killed before and I would kill again but nothing I could tell myself could bring me to actually do the act. It would be so simple, stun him with a flamethrower and then strike... but I couldn't bring my mind to tell my body the order.

A flash of memories attacked from the depths of my mind of Napoleon and I together and nothing I could do could stop them from invading my conscience.

"_You hurt Black?" asked the dressed Snivy was a confident grin on his face "Or was that energy ball a little bit too much for you?" His orange-red eyes looked down at my with a strong sense of brotherhood and friendship, even though he had just defeated me fair and square._

_I was laying on my back and was too busy with the pain in my gut to say much. This was before I had started to wear human cloths, so the bruise on my stomach was obvious and looked almost as painful as it felt._

_Seeing that I wasn't about to respond Napoleon laughed "Alright, let me help you up-" He reached down with a scaly hand and grabbed my limp paw. With a strong pull he forced my form off the ground and got me back onto my feet._

"_You got lucky that time, so enjoy this while you can." I replied with the spirit of rivalry in me._

"_We'll see about tha-"_

"Black!" shouted the actual Napoleon and putting me squarely back into reality "What do you want?"

Feeling my heartbeat increase I swallowed the lump in my neck "Napoleon, I said I would give you one last chance to turn in Scarlet... and I meant it." I looked up at her penthouse and then back down at him "I-... I'm not going to kill you Napoleon... I could never bring myself to do that and at this rate I won't have to. The choices you're making are putting you in danger and if you aren't careful they will get you killed."

The grass-type frowned "Black get out of here." he said in a dismissive tone.

I stomped a paw on the ground in anger as a gust of wind caused the my jacket to shift "I'm not Napoleon. I'm tired of seeing this Ponyta guide you and put you in situations that you don't need to be in. One of these days you're going to do something for her and it's going to get you killed. All you do is make excuses for her over and over again. She breaks the law: she had a reason for it. Her action cause a loss of life: it wasn't her fault. When are you going to open your eyes and see the light of the revolution and destroy this Pokemon that is the simple of human tyranny?"

Napoleon crossed his arms. His stance was straightened further my the sun setting behind him "Another speech to get me to join your little team resistance? You don't know all the things she does Black and I wouldn't go judging her."

"But I do know you Napoleon... I've known you for more than half a decade! I..." I slowed down as I thought about the words in my mind "... I love you Napoleon, I love you like a brother. I love you because you are my brother. You had such a feeling of honor when we left the master. You wanted to use the skills the master had taught us to uphold peace and justice in the world, not to help some corrupt aristocrat seize more and more power." I blinked to keep tears from overflowing my eyes "Please Napoleon... my friend... my brother... the only family I have left. Leave her, leave her and join me in righteousness. Join me in the good fight against Team Rocket and Team Galactic, against Team Magma and Aqua. Together we can beat them and know that we're doing it for the right rea-"

"How many times do I have to say no before you can get it though your think skull Black." said Napoleon in a devastating tone "Until you can get that I don't want you showing your face around here again."

Retreating back into threats I snarled "Fine then, what if I just go kill Scarlet right now?" to show I was serious I unsheathed a black from my wrist.

With quick retaliation Napoleon pulled out his dagger, in his eyes was a look of true fear "You'll do no such thing."

Still shattered from Napoleon's rejection I eyed my new target's penthouse "Just watch me-

In all my years knowing the Snivy I had never seen him move faster than that moment. Pulling my my wrist-blade I avoided losing a limp by blocking his savage attack. Our weapons locked as we eyed each other with ferocious intensity.

Suddenly Napoleon used his free hand to punch at to face. Ducking under his attack I did a quick flame charge at point blank range making it impossible to dodge. I muted my old friend's screams of agony as I drove him across the cobble stone rooftop.

A sharp stopped me as the Snivy jabbed me with the handle of his dagger before engaging me again. He took a swipe at me chest, but I aptly deflected it with my blade. Again he attacked, but at my face this time. I saw my opportunity to strike at I locked his dagger above my head, leaving his side open to attack.

Misguiding Napoleon's battle tactics I was shocked when the snake did a complete three hundred and sixty turn and slugged me in the face with his momentum. With another kick Napoleon pushed me back a couple of feet.

"Leave Scarlet alone Black." said Napoleon in a voice I didn't recognize anymore "Or I will end you. You have a problem, come talk to me." he sheathed his blade "Understand? I'm not fighting you Black... I would never fight you. I have my problems, but so do you." Turning his back to me Napoleon walked away and left me with a final thought-

"I propose you focus on the reason you went to train with the master, it's about time you get some closure."


	72. Vermilion City: Changing Tides

Okay guys, like before I'm splitting this city into several parts and with this chapter the 'normal' Vermilion city arch is over and the next one will begin. So far Napoleon and Scarlet haven't had any personal contact with Night and the gang... but that might change soon.

Anyway I also want to really thank all of you who've supported and read this story. Seeing that The Dark Chronicles has just reached the two year mark I wanted to celebrate the occasion with something. If you guys have any analysis that you've been holding back or any comments shoot them at me and I'd be happy to reply. And also, for those who do sighed reviews, you can ask one question about the story and as long as it's not compromising to the story I will answer it to you (That means no asking about what Dawn/Dusk did or what Dexter used to do). If you do ask for info on anything big like that I'll give you a clue.

Once again, thanks you guys and gals. You are all awesome and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

"Spark, can we talk?" I asked with deep emotion in my voice. I had to live with the secrets that Azelf had told me for too long now and I needed to tell someone. I thought about talking with Dexter or Ruby, but I was in no mood to be analyzed or insulted by either of them. My mind and heart had grown weak with the burden of the information holding them down. Spark was the only person I knew wouldn't make me feel alone or like an idiot. I trusted the Pikachu with my life, so I was willing to trust him with Azelf's prediction.

The mouse scratched fur under his blue scarf and nodded "Sure Night, what's wrong?"

I looked around "Not here, in private." After the gym battle we had gone back to the hotel, and then to the Pokemon center to get Jolt and Ferne medical attention. At the time most of us were either in Ferne and Jolt's room or hanging around in the hallway that lead to said room. The cold, white Pokemon center walls did little to make me feel any better and with Crystal, Dusk, and Dexter just down the hall there was no doubt they would hear Spark and I's conversation.

"Uh.. sure." responded the Pikachu with a shrug.

The Mouse and I made our way around a corner and into privacy. I looked around this new hallway and saw that we were alone.

"What's this about Night?" asked Spark with his concern only on me.

I sighed "I have some news from Azelf, and it's not good." My voice was a deep tone of seriousness.

The Pikachu jumped to life as those words left my mouth "What's going on? Did he say the dogs are coming for us, has Arceus's condition gotten worse?"

"No, no it's not that." I looked behind me "It has to do with Dusk..."

Spark lowered his shoulders "Dusk... Why would Azelf be concerned with Dusk?"

I shrugged "I have no idea, but he told me that some Pokemon are going to try and hurt her."

Spark crossed his arms and glared at the floor in thought. He knew this meant a lot to me and he was very much aware of how much Dusk and I had bonded in the Asylum. Looking back up at me he frowned "Who's after her?"

"That's the thing-" I replied "He said that Snivy Napoleon and Scarlet the Ponyta were the ones. But I have no idea what they would want with her."

Spark leaned on the wall "Yeah, isn't Napoleon supposed to be one of the good guys, he protects the city like a hero. And that Scarlet girl... I don't know what she has invested in this." The Pikachu paused "Are you sure this information is accurate Night?"

I nodded my head "I'm sure, but it's still hard to believe."

A moment of silence fell over us before Spark said "Should we tell her?"

"I don't know" I replied "Azelf did say only to give this info to Pokemon that knew about him..."

"But Dusk should know she's in danger, wouldn't you've liked to know about the Asylum before you got thrown in?" said Spark "But it's not my choice to make. If you want to tell her, then do it. If you don't, then don't." he paused "But if you don't tell her then you're going to need to tell everyone that knows about the legendaries about this."

"I guess I should. Ruby and Dexter could be good assets." I spoke with thought.

Spark looked shocked "Wait-wait, what? Since when has Ruby known about Azelf?"

I nonchalantly shrugged "I don't know, since Cerulean city" I remembered something "But there is one more thing Spark."

The mouse rolled his eyes "What, Jack washed his hair?"

"No, apparently there's a Bulbasaur in the city that's a big danger to us. All Azelf said was that we should be on the lookout for a weird looking Bulbasaur and that Razor and Dusk would know something about it." I sighed "Which is going to make it difficult to ask them what they know."

"Correct... perhaps you could just bring it up in conversation or something." suggested Spark with a shrug "All I know is that this is going to get complicate-"

"Spark, Night-" spoke a familiar calculated voice from behind me.

My leg muscles tightened as I realized I was caught by the Espeon that had moved to be in my field of vision. Dexter's blue eyes glared back and forth at me and my rodent friend "So when were you two going to tell me about this... sooner, or latter?"

Awkward silence ensued as Spark and I gave each other nervous stares knowing that we had been caught by the pink Eevee evolution. Looking back and forth at Spark and I Dexter looked a little less than pleased that he had been left out of the current loop.

"What do you mean? Tell you about what?" I said uneasily "We- we weren't-"

"Don't try to Tauros-crap me Night, I can read minds and could hear what you two were thinking from a mile away." responded Dexter sharply with a little bit of anger "So what are we going to do with this information, there's no way I'm just going to sit on my butt and wait for things to happen."

"But that's our only option-" I said trying to persuade my psychic counterpart " Azelf explicitly said to only pass this on to Pokemon that know whats going on and as of now that group doesn't include Dusk. I want to warn her, more than anything- but I trust Azelf's judgment and I'm going to follow it."

Dexter frowned "So you're going to just listen to Azelf and do what he says no matter what you think personally?" questioned the Espeon "I feel like we need to tell everyone about the threat seeing that it will effect all of them." he paused " Ponder this Night, what will we do when Napoleon and Scarlet attack or this Bulbasaur attacks and someone gets hurt or worse... killed. We'll have that on our consciences for the rest of our lives and I don't know about you but I already have enough things in my life to regret and have no intention to add anymore."

Dexter posed a valid point and I couldn't just ignore it. I wouldn't be able to stand seeing Dusk afraid and and pain again... and it would be even worse if I couldn't stop it this time. Azelf had instructed me not to tell her, but everything inside me told me I should.

"We should tell everyone about this treat, it has to do with everyone and it would be wrong to withhold them information that could be used to make them safe." said Spark looking at me with compassion "I think you might have to go against Azelf here Night."

I didn't know what to do or say and desperately needed some time to mull over my choice, luckily for me we heard Jack's voice cry out with "Dex, Night, Spark- come 'ere we need you for something!"

Walking pass Dexter and Spark I reassured them "I'll think about it alright, we'd better get going."

* * *

"You're putting us in a day-care?" shouted Ruby in a rage fueled state "What are we children?"

"Calm down Ruby, it's just for the day-" pleaded Katherine almost knowing what Ruby had said word for word "And it's only you guys and Jack's Pokemon. Desmond and Vapor are staying at the Pokemon center with Ferne and Jolt.

"And what will you and Mr. Goth here be doing all day?" I asked pointing to Jack while looking at the girl.

"Katherine and I are going to research training tactics around the city and how to handle Surge's Pokemon." replied Jack, shocking me with how he had caught my inflection and realized I was asking a question.

Kat sighed "We're really sorry guys, but we know how many disagreements you can get into when left alone-."

"Plus, when you're there you get fed and taken care of and everything. Don't think of it as a 'Day care' think of it as a spa or mini-vacation." said Jack with a peppy grin on his face "Enjoy yourselves-" he gestured to Dusk and Crystal "and maybe you can get to know you're new teammates better."

If looks could kill, I'd be long dead by now and wouldn't be able to tell you about the absolute death-gaze Ruby gave Crystal. I had been under the impression that the two had made nice, but Ruby was not well known for her ability to live and let live. Even Dexter and I had gotten over that thing, you know, when he held me hostage inside my own mind and used images like me being dissected and killing my own mother to try and break me... but I forgave him and we made up. Rubes on the other hand still hated Crystal, even though the Glaceon had done nothing but try to be civil and kind.

"Sure..." said Ruby in a dark tone.

"Great." heaved Razor. Having job experience in dealing with lunatics and an advanced degree in Rubiscraziology he would be my go to guy in making sure Ruby didn't murder Crystal, or vice versa.

"Okay, we're all set." said Jack clasping his hands together "Let's get going."

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

"You found her?" I exclaimed with overwhelming surprise as I almost tackled Napoleon as he spoke the words I had been waiting for.

The Snivy solemnly nodded "Yeah. She's in the city and really close to you." Napoleon seemed depressed about something, like his mind was thinking about things that he would rather forget.

"What do you mean?" I questioned trying my best not to ask the snake about what was worrying him.

Leaning on a glass wall overlooking the street Napoleon casually pointed to a little hotel across the street "The Purrloin we're looking for lives right across the street in that hotel."

I waltzed over to the window and looked down at the cute little Tuscan style building in shock. I had looked out that same window countless times to see the Vermilion city skyline and never even bothered to looked down at the humble little building. It's almost like a metaphor about my life, I always look up and to the sky and forget the looked down and see those below me. Napoleon wasn't as ignorant as me and knew that the Purrloin would be around and had made it his life to track her down.

"Really?" I said with wonder.

Napoleon gave a depressed nod as he looked out the window "Yep."

No longer able to ignore his odd behavior I had to ask "Napoleon, what's going on?"

Getting very defensive the Snivy looked at me with piercing eyes. The red orbs glared at me with burning emotion "What do you mean?"

"There's something bothering you darling, I know." I said in a strict tone "You can tell me anything Napoleon. Just say what's bothering you."

The Snivy pushed himself off the glass wall and paced towards the couch "It's nothing Scarlet... just issues with an old buddy. I won't worry you with details but I'm handling it." Napoleon's voice was cold and distant as he kept information to himself "We have enough things to think about already."

I looked upon the snake in pity "Are you sure you don't want to talk dear?"

"I'm sure, alright?" erupted Napoleon in a surge of anger "I'm fine so stop worrying about me. I appreciate the concern Scarlet but right now I'm here to help_ you_ get through a situation that _you_ got _yourself_ into. I'm risking my whole reputation doing this illegal activity for you. So hows about you just shut up for a second and let me think about how I'm going to go about doing this?"

Silence fell over the penthouse as I was utterly shocked by his sudden burst of emotion. His words hit me right in my shallow heart and stung a little bit. I knew deep in my mind that he was only reacting in anger and concern for me, but his strong words did have meaning behind them. I was almost forcing him to do this very illegal thing for organizations that he wants nothing to do with. I looked down at me hoofs and tucked my muzzle into my gray scarf "Sorry darling, I'll get out of your way.


	73. Vermilion City:Of Fate and Luck

Yeah, so I lied about the new arch thing, that happens next chapter, sorry. Anyway, things heat up in these next few chapters, so get ready for some old questions to be answered and for new ones to come out!

And a question as well- do you question Napoleon's mortality?

Thanks for reading this quickie of a note and I hope you enjoy!

Ruby's point of view

* * *

"You can't be serious, I'm not staying at some day-care." I said in a useless effort to get everyone to understand I would rather be kissing Night's disgusting ass than spend more time in the horrible building.

The goth kid and Katherine had just left us to die in this drool covered, screech filled, terrible place that humans had the guts or the stupidity to bravely call a day-care. When my trainer said day-care she really meant pre-school. Doing a quick look around of the main room I spotted no Pokemon that would be above the age of seven or eight, meaning that me and my group of misinformed misfits were the elder Pokemon of the place. I had anger problems, Dusk was insecure,and Crystal was a bitch. Not to mention Jack's holy grail of Pokemon: Night the jack-ass, Spark the kiss-ass, and Dexter the smart-ass... we had a group that could conquer the world, let alone this pittiful facility where calmness and peace went to die.

"Hello new tots!" said a male human with a white jumpsuit on in a sing-song voice "I'm Mr. Happy man and I want to show you how you're gonna have a fun dandy time here today at the best Pokemon day-care in the city! Now who's ready to have some fun?" he said that last part as if he expected applause for his act (or at least I hoped it was an act.) But when no one even reacted he pouted, leaned over and put his hands on his hips "Now what's 'rong.. you guys miss you're trainy-wainies?"

"No-" started Night in a quietly pissed off tone "And can you stop talking to us li-"

Without warning the man lunged at Night and surrounded him in something that could only be called a bear-hug. Lifting the Umbreon off the he held tight as he swung the dark-type in his arms "I know- I know, but they'll be back for you..." he turned around to face a larger group of Pokemon and humans "Because..."

"THEY LOVE YOU!" shouted every living thing in the building. The sound waves attacked my ears as they bounced off the walls of the place and forced me to listen to the echo over and over again.

Mr. Happy man the proceeded to hold Night in his hands like a baby and rub his nose against the stunned Umbreon's muzzle "It's gonna be okay."

"I'm going to kill you- you get that. I'm gonna rip you face off if you don-" threatened Night before he was interrupted again.

"You are just so cute!" responded the man in a high pitched voice before putting Night down "Now I'm going to go check on other groups, so have FUN!" and with that the man in the white jumpsuit pranced to another part of the room.

"This is what hell is." spoke Night in a haunted voice "This is where I get put because I'm a terrible person." The Umbreon turned to all of us "Ruby and I are so terrible that we got all of you into hell too! We're going to die here."

Spark tried to console his frantic friend "It's okay Night."

"We're gonna die..."

Dusk joined in "Night... just calm down"

"Everything's white too and all these people have on colorful jumpsuits and they're smiley faces on the wall and they are going to KILL me." Night was losing it.

"I'll kill you if you don't shut up and let me think idiot." I spat my anger out with a puff of smoke from my nose "I refuse to stay here."

"So you're suggesting we break out..." added in Rocket bi- I mean Crystal.

No matter how much I hated the Glaceon at the moment I nodded "Of course, you don't know... but we did kinda break Night and Dusk here out of a Team Galactic base."

"I would like to add that it was because of prior info I gave you and an immense amount of luck." stated Dexter matter-of-factly "But I'm sure we could manage to get out of here with stealth. And if that fails we _are _the strongest Pokemon here..."

That last line earned the Espeon a group of weird stares "I kid!" exclaimed the pink Pokemon with a shrug.

"Whatever dude-" started Razor taking a step and looking around the room "I don't want to judge this place yet. People seem to be enjoying themselves, maybe they're something of quality here... something pure."

Almost on cue an adorable looking Pichu waltzed up the Razor with a finger in her mouth "Mr..." she said in a sweet voice that even I could coo at.

The Bulbasaur smiled and looked down at the miniature mouse "Yeah little girl, what do you need?"

With a feice growl the Pichu grabbed the skin of Razor's chest and drew him in "You and your little amigos here probably think you're just gonna roll in here and take over this place don't ya?"

Shocked by the Pichu Razor didn't know what to do" Understand this asshole-" continued the Pichu "You can stay, you're kinda cute so I won't destroy you. But the moment you or your friends makes a power play... lets just say you'll be getting a few boo-boos."

"Is this real?" asked Dusk walking up to the Pichu "I don't know what your issue is bu-"

Razor suddenly jolted up and staggered back shaking his head "You shocked me!"

The evil little Pichu grinned "Tell your girl here to shut up and it won't happen again..." the small Pokemon waved and walked away "I'll be seeing you."

I sighed and gritted my teeth "Unbelievable..."

* * *

Vapor's point of view

* * *

"Are you alright Vapor?" asked the kind voice of Jolt. Even in his injured state the Jolteon still had such a warm heart as he lay in the Pokemon center bed. Bandages were wrapped around his body in various spots and small bruises dotted his form.

I wasn't alright, not at all. When Desmond refused to let me battle my confidence plummeted and my emotions took over. I hadn't felt that useless in months and it didn't make it better that he let Ferne battle over me when I've been with him longer. "I'm such a weakling..."

Jolt sat up in the bed "What are you talking about? You're not weak at all Vapor-"

"Then why would Desmond rather lose the battle over letting me try and win? He wanted to save himself from the embarrassment of needed to guide me to another loss." I put my head down, too ashamed to look Jolt in the eye.

"Vapor..." spoke Jolt in a soft voice "That's not what's going on at all love. He was just worried about you." he paused to think for a moment "Do you remember the Pewter city gym?"

Nodding in silence I kept my gaze focused on the ground and let Jolt continue "Desmond had just caught you when we got to Pewter city and he wasn't sure if you were ready to fight. You were so shy and didn't look like a fighter, so he didn't make you do it. But at the same time he didn't want me to go up against a type disadvantage. It tore at him more than anything to have me go in there."

"What's the point of this little story..." I asked in a saddened tone, not even wanting to hear him talk.

Groaning in pain Jolt made it to his feet with a valiant effort and glared at me with his everlasting and deep black eyes "The point is that Desmond cared about me when he sent me out to battle in Pewter, and he cared about you when he didn't want to see you get hurt out there today. I don't want to see you talk about yourself like you're nothing Vapor, it gets me angry." His voice was filled with such passion, like he had taken his time and planned out this entire moment.

"What..." I gasped, unable to fully process the Jolteon's words.

Jumping down from the bed Jolt landing with a cringe and strained to keep his legs steady but kept his leer straight on me "You're better than you think Vapor. You're strong-hearted, you're funny, you're kind, you're gentle but fierce when need be. You're a proper lady that isn't afraid to get her hands dirty."

"Jolt..." his name escaped my lips as his soft words melded with my emotions.

"You... you're so smart and deep compared to others like you. There's substance behind those indigo eyes of yours." Jolt paused "You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen in my life. Since the moment I laid eyes on you I've been unable to contain myself around you and unable to feel complete unless I was talking to you. You're a wonderful mind and heart..." The Jolteon lowered his head "And it's all my privilege to be able to call you my comrade in arms on the battlefield."

As those words hit my ears I felt them shape my emotions and meld with my heart. No one had ever said anything that kind to me before and I didn't know how to react to it. Feeling a urge to act I dove into the Jolteon and hugged him with a passion I had to express. Digging my face deep into his furry chest I closed my eyes in regret one I realized he must've been in pain. Despite this Jolt softly hugged me back and for a moment I felt like nothing on the outside could hurt me. Even my missteps were triumphs in his eyes and over those past days I had made several. But it didn't matter to him, because he would be there for me when Night couldn't. He could be my rock.

"Oh sweet Mew!" shouted the voice of Ferne in livid tone.

Having completely forgotten that the Leafeon was in the room I assume that the mutual feeling of instant separation found it's way into me and Jolt's minds. Ending our tender embrace prematurely we looked at Ferne in her bed the same way two teenagers look after an forbidden public display of affection. Ferne's bad arm was hoisted up in a sling and there were various bandages covering scraps, but her angry face looked down at us with scorn "Both of you shut up please, I'm trying to get some rest. Gawd!" and with that the Leafeon slumped back into a prone position and was snoring within seconds.

Jolt gave a chuckle "I guess the morphine's doing it's job."

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

"I have to do this eventually." I said to myself perched on the low rooftop on a cobblestone building "I can't just sit here..." I was right too. For the past couple of hours many things had found their way into my mind. An hour before Black was at the top of my concern and his threat to kill Scarlet made me think twice about what he was capable of. However, upon laying eyes on Scarlet I remembered the secret that my master had so carelessly given me. Looking into her eyes I almost couldn't stand being in the same room with her with all of the information that I had about her life that she was oblivious to. With all of that going on had forced myself to leave and focus on my main objective, capturing the Purrloin.

The last time I had seen them they were leaving the hotel, so I assumed that they were going to the Pokemon center for something. Making my way casually down the rooftop and down to the street I made a point to draw little attention to myself. The last thing I needed at that moment was for some fan to interrupt me and kill my focus.

Once arriving to my destination I knew I couldn't just walk in and look for the Purrloin, that would be to obvious and not even close to the preferred method. I knew that every Pokemon Center had a camera stationed in every room. Going around the back of the white and red building I was glad to see that a window was agape. Slipping into the window I did a quick scan of the room I found myself in.

I marveled at my good luck in seeing that I found myself in the room I was searching for. It was a small room, perhaps 10 by 10, with stacks and stacks of stored video footage and several live feeds to every room in the center on a table in the corner of the room.

_'Man...' _I thought with a smirk _'Mew must be lovin' me today.' _

I walked over to the video table and observed every video. Most of them were trivial, stupid things... trainers freaking out over their Pokemon's minor injuries, Pokemon sleeping... stuff like that. I noticed in one of the videos that there was a human that I had see with the Purrloin before. He was light skinned with blond hair with a vest and slacks on. He sat in the hallway outside one of the rooms and appeared to be speaking with a Vaporeon. I had seen humans talk to their Pokemon all the time and had never thought much of it, but there was something special about how he was speaking with his Pokemon. He was looking her in the eye and was speaking from the heart. He was sitting down so that he was at the Vaporeon's level and the Vaporeon seemed to be listening with her heart and mind. I lost myself in that moment for a second, and I remembered that that's what I wanted. I wanted to have a bond like that with a human, I wanted to be a part of a team and accomplish things in the world. I envied the Vaporeon, but the moment passed when I caught a glimpse of a Pokemon I hoped I would never see again.

Clenching my hands on the table I whispered her name under my breath "Jane... what the hell is _she _doing here." My luck had run out, and now not only would I have to capture a Purrloin that I had saved before, and have to keep the secret about Scarlet's 'gift' from her father, and have to protect her from Black and make sure he didn't do anything stupid...

I now had to figure out how to handle another student of my master who just happened to be an ex-girlfriend.

* * *

Point of view ?

* * *

"What's my objective again?" I asked with a paw to my ear.

"Cyrus wants you to give the Umbreon a good beating, show him what he'll have to deal with if he doesn't fall in line with our plan." said my squad leader over the radio"But don't kill him, he said mother wouldn't be happy if he were to die."

"The mother?" I asked with a chuckle "I'll be sure not to kill him."

"And one more thing." chimed in the voice over the radio "I'm sending you Blitzkrieg for assistance."

"What?" I asked in outrage "What makes you think I can't do this alone?"

"Nothing." replied my squad leader "I just want to make sure this all goes right. Plus... the operation in Saffron is coming up and it would be convenient to have both of you in Kanto to make sure everything's in place."

I sighed "Fine... I'll except the help."

"Good. Now get this done and don't let your guard down, Team Rocket may try to intercept you." said my leader.

Smirking I replied with "No problem, I'd enjoy taking down a few Rockets to avenge the Asylum. Who knows, maybe the Rocket squad that attacked the Asylum will be here."

"Well if they are give 'em hell- Void out-"


	74. Benign Corruption: Eye of the Storm

Alright guys, new chapter, new arc, new problems and new secrets. This will be the bulk of the chapter in Vermilion and there is going to be confrontation. Night's group will have to face enemies that will try to kidnap, hurt, and even kill them. We have a couple of big battles coming up and little hints to what's going on, like what Dusk did in Pallet town, and what the Resistance will do to accomplish their goals.

Also another question, who do you think has a worse family life? Ruby, Night, or Scarlet. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Razor's point of view

* * *

"Alright, is everyone set on the plan?" whispered Dexter with misplaced seriousness "This won't work twice."

"If it won't work twice what makes it a good plan?" demanded Ruby quietly "I still feel like walking out of here would be the best thing."

"What, and run the risk of getting caught and having to fight our way out anyway. We don't want that and it's the main reason Dexter came up with this plan." sounded Crystal in a sharp tone. It was clear that she and Ruby were still at odds, no matter how trivial the situation.

Ruby frowned "What, you afraid of needing to fight. I would too after seeing how you got your ass kicked by Desmond..."

"And I'm not surprised that you're so against strategy seeing that you managed to get beaten by one bug type in the Asylum." sounded Crystal with a precise verbal assault.

My vixen friend took a step back "Where did you hear that from?"

With a flick of motion Crystal placed her scarf-like tail on Dexter's shoulders "Dexter told me about it and warned me to watch myself around you. He said that you were... unstable."

The Vulpix glared at the Espeon with a glint of anger in her eyes "You said what to her?"

The Psychic raised a paw in defense "Don't scream, we were just talking and it came up." quickly said Dexter "I'm sorry alright, but arguing right now won't get us out of here."

"I agree." piped up Night before snickering "Ruby is unstable."

"You say anything else and your _jaw _will be unstable." retorted the furious fox before glaring back at Crystal "You're lucky we're busy right now, or I'd crack your skull icy."

Crystal gave a fake pout "Too bad, I would've looked forward to it."

"Let's just all calm down guys and let Dexter finish up." spoke up Spark being true unbiased voice of reason "I don't want to spend the rest of my day here just like the rest of us, so we have to work together to make this happen." He made a gesture to the Espeon "Continue."

Dexter nodded "Thank you. Now..." he flashed a glance at Dusk "Dusk, I'm going to need you to act like you're hurt, that's gonna be our main distraction. Are you okay with that?"

The Purrloin nodded "Yeah, I guess I'm fine with that..." she paused and did a quick scan on the room "But I hope that isn't all you have planned."

The Espeon smirked and shook his head "Of course not, you're just going to grab everyone's attention while Spark here on cue the rodent went alert-does what electric types to best and cut the power to the lights."

The Pikachu put his paws on his waist "And I'm just gonna hit the lights with a thunder-shock attack, not too discreet."

"That's why you're gonna stick you're finger Dexter pointed to an out-lit next to him "In said hole and discharging the whole circuit. This should stop the circuit to the whole building and force the lights off." Dexter's simple plan was starting to come together, and so far I was on board.

"Then," continued Dexter bringing his attention to me "Razor, I'm going to need you to use your razor leaf in the chaos to cut out a window."

"What?" I questioned with concern "Why would that be needed, just break the window and-"

"And alert everyone in the building that someone has broken glass? The whole point of doing this is so that no one notices what's going on before we're all halfway down the street. If we break glass than that isn't going to be possible." interrupted Dexter with precise reasoning.

"But why not just open the door when the lights are out?" asked Night bringing up a valid point.

Dexter rolled his eyes "Because these are not push doors, they have knobs that need to be grabbed by human hands to open. On top of that we need a key and last time I checked we don't really have one... plus Razor himself said that his Razor leaves were quote 'a dozy' so he should be able to do it."

A little shocked by this last bit of info I had to speak up "Since when have I told you that?"

"You didn't quickly retorted the Espeon "You said it to Night one of the times you two were talking."

"Wait- wait... you knew that?" spoke Night in an accusatory tone "You read my mind?"

Once again Dexter rolled his eyes "_No... _read isn't the right word, more like skimmed. I can't read dark type minds at all, but I can skim them to get quick details on subjects and memories that they are thinking about at the time." Dexter paused "I rarely do it anymore so don't get ma-"

"When did you do this?" asked Crystal in a slightly surprised voice. She must not've heard about what he had done to Night on the road to Cerulean city.

"Before I met you, it's nothing anyway... me and Night have made up and it's the past." said Dexter, expertly brushing the subject under the proverbial carpet of the current conversation "Razor, I'm ninety percent sure this will work okay."

"And what am I going to do Mr. IQ?" asked, or more like demanded Ruby with a deep frown on her face "Or am I just gonna sit here and what for Night to screw something up?"

Before Night could say anything Dexter replied "You are going to be our secondary distraction after Dusk by using you're smokescreen attack."

Ruby rolled her eyes "Oh, that's your big job for me? Cloud the room and kill everyone with second-hand smoke?"

Starting to get tired of Ruby complaining I stepped in "Come on Rubes, chill out. It's important, and we all have to do something if we want this to be successful ."

The vixen shot me a hard glance, but kept her hostile thoughts to herself... mostly "Whatever, you idiots better not screw this up."

Night apparently chose this time to speak up some more "By the way, what's gonna be my job oh great pink sage?" the Umbreon's words bleed sarcasm and facetiousness.

On queue Ruby scoffed "Speaking of idiots..."

Night ignored her side-comment and continued "Anyway, what important job are you going to assign you're polar opposite Mr. Espeon?"

Obviously growing tired of Night's heavy sarcasm Dexter sighed "Night I really don't have anything for you to do," he turned to Crystal "I also don't have anything for you either Crystal. This plan isn't really a huge operation and I just can't use all of you."

From how Night had approached things in the past I really wasn't surprised by his reaction to this news. His calm facial expression didn't change with the exception of a minuscule smirk and he relaxed his shoulders and sat on the ground "I'm cool with that, I like not doing anything... and plus" he said looking at Crystal "Maybe Crystal and I can get to know each other, you know, they way people get to know each other..." he paused and put a sadistic grin on his face "...in the darkness."

An awkward moment followed as Crystal, not knowing Night, didn't realize that the dark type was not in anyway serious. The Glaceon put a deep look of disgust on her face "What are you talking about..." her voice had a quiet fear behind it, like a child that had recently seen a spider and what wondering what to do.

Night, not being the smartest guy in the world, kept the act up "What am I talking about? I mean we can do whatever you want icicle..."

"He's joking." stated Spark with confidence as he stride over to Crystal, arms crossed. "Don't take him too seriously, he has a sarcasm problem."

"He has a problem in general." piped up Ruby again "He's an imbecile."

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

It had come out of nowhere and hit me like a hurricane, fear that didn't just happen and I knew the direct cause of it. For the last day I had been contemplating my meeting with the being that called him, or itself, Darkrai. Never before I had experienced an immobilizing terror like I did then and sitting in my penthouse as the sun went down I couldn't help but try and wonder what it meant.

Napoleon had left several minutes ago to handle some business, and part of me was happy he did. I was struggling to hold myself together and keep from telling my best friend a secret that I had to keep to myself, Napoleon had enough issues to deal with.

From where I was there were only two ways I could explain that visit. One, it was just a dream and I was getting scared for no logical reason. Or two, it actually was the prince of darkness and I had a whole new set of problems to face. Before I had always thought of legendaries as far off distant beings that looked down on the world, not beings that get involved in personal lives.

I had to talk to someone, right then and there. Napoleon wouldn't be able to take on Darkrai for me, so I turned on my visionphone (Pokemon center model) and gave my mother a call. I hated to do it and I hated to rely on her, but she was my mother and I hoped she would be there for me.

Glaring at the monitor I waited for her to pick up with anticipation and with a flash her face appeared on the screen. Saw what you will about my mother, but she is a beautiful Rapadash and without a doubt where I get every ounce of my good looks from. Her face was perfectly sculpted and remained soft even as she aged. Her crimson eyes stared at me with grace and elegant, but there was something distant about them at the same time. She lay in her well made bed she had imported from the orange islands that overflowed with the most expensive sheets money could buy. Despite her soft face, my mother wore a stern look of disappointment every time I talked to her, probably because I avoided talking with her whenever possible.

"Scarlet my dear daughter, why have you been ignoring me my darling?" she spoke in a brogue that came from living in a wealthy family and having a five-star education.

I sighed "I haven't been ignoring you mother, I've just been so busy and-"

"Too busy to talk to your mother and father about your life?" she lifted her nose, just in case I wasn't aware that she wasn't proud of me.

Feeling the urge to speak up and said "That's actually what I called you for-"

"You couldn't speak with your father when he tried to talk to him, except when you degrade him and say that Napoleon is more of a son to him than you are a daughter?" my mother scoffed "That is a disgusting thing to say to the Pokemon that planted your seed young lady."

Anger started to build inside of me when I started to become aware of why I refused to have conversations with my mother "Can I finish a sentence ple-"

"No you cannot!" she shouted suddenly, her fire mane flaring up "I love you honey, but you never visit me. You've lived in Kanto for 4 years now and you're just a city away, but you never come and visit. What kind of daughter disrespects her mother in that way?"

"I-"

"The kind of daughter that doesn't appreciate what she has." finished mother in a stern tone. She put a pout on her face "I can't keep talking, I need to have a moment."

Seeing my chance dissipating fast I tried to urged her "But mother-"

"Goodbye my darling, I will call you later." and with that the screen went black and her call ended.

Unbelievably crestfallen I didn't know how to react to being ignored by the Pokemon that gave me life. I didn't cry, I couldn't even if I wanted to. At that point I was so emotionally detached I felt more like than a machine than a Ponyta. I had to find someway to feel alive again, I had to live my life on my own terms.

Looking out the window at the setting Vermilion city sun I sighed "I guess I should go out tonight" I said to myself before giving a little chuckle "Don't want to become a couch potato now Scarlet, the last thing you need now is to get fat."

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

I had escaped the Pokemon center without a sound and was now pacing down a lonely Vermilion street, but my mind was on Jane. Jane was a Leafeon that I had refused to think about for almost a year now. I knew she was around, and I knew she was doing things in Kanto... I just didn't know if it would come to involve me. Part of me wondered if she had come to the city to get revenge on me, I did break up with her.

Shaking my head I came to my senses _'Napoleon you idiot, she wouldn't come to Vermilion just for you.' _I thought _'She's been trying to find her brothers for five years now, she wouldn't just stop and come after you.'_

My state of self reflection was interpreted by something I didn't expect. Running down the street in something I can only call a confused mess was a group of seven Pokemon. A stupid looking Umbreon, a Pikachu was an unnecessary scarf around it's neck, an Espeon with blue eyes, a pissed off looking Vulpix, a Bulbasaur with a wide grin on his face,and a conservative looking Glaceon... but they weren't what was important to me. Lastly I saw the Purrloin, the Pokemon that was my priority. She still looked the same as when I saved her a couple of months ago, but the air of innocence around her was gone and she looked more established and experienced.

They made their way down the street as the building behind them seemed to be having a blackout. Under normal circumstances I would have jumped into action and done something about that building, but with the opportunity to get that Purrloin I couldn't make that happen. This was my chance to strike and I wasn't about to miss it.

Sighing I tightened my fists "Alright Napoleon." I said to myself "Time to act."


	75. Benign Corruption: Abduction

Alright guys, I have a super important update for you this time. Lots and lots of stuff going down this chapter so pay attention, I'd hate for anyone to miss anything. This is where things really start to kick off, so I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and with this new image thing (Which I freaking love!) I'll be working on a cover for this story, but if anyone wants to give me a cover I'd be more than happy to use it!.

And yet another question for you, out of everyone in the story thus far who do you feel the most pity for? I hope you think about it!

The big 75, hope you like it.

* * *

Dexter's point of view

* * *

My body pulsed with the sound of the strong music as my brained struggled to stay on it's regular wavelength as the club songs pounded against my ear drums. Everything felt so fake and pre-calculated that it made me sick and with the addition of the shallow Pokemon around me dancing like mindless drones going into battle I was in no mood to be annoyed.

Soon after we had escaped from the day-care our little group had come upon a little night life hub and to a vote of five to two (You can guess that Ruby and I were the two) we decided to go in. Seeing that Ruby, Dusk, and Crystal were mildly attractive and non of use were revoltingly ugly we were let in and quickly scattered throughout the building in various groups. Spark had gone with Night and Razor, Ruby was lone wolfing it, Crystal and Dusk went with each other to the bar and I was left hanging around in a lounge area waiting for the night to end.

"Hey man bro-" spoke the voice of a buffoon in my vicinity. Thinking and hoping he was talking with someone else I kept my vision focused and ignored him with extreme prejudice.

"Hey, man bro guy." spoke the voice again. His idiotic tone made me feel like I was losing IQ points and by then I was sure he was speaking with me to I acknowledged that he existed and relied "What do you want?"

My new guest was a Slowpoke, literally and figuratively. His lazy eyes glared at me with an uncertain gaze and a good amount of drool that was just enough to be inexcusable was dripping it's way out of his mouth. Wrapped around each of it's chubby limbs were one or two glow sticks that just made his already pink body blend into the festival of colors that I found myself in. "You... you wanna buy a glow stick bro dude?"

Trying my best not to sound rude I quickly said "No I'm fine. Thank you."

It was stupid of me to think someone with such little brain activity would leave me alone after that. "But like man guy, you like... have blue eyes bro man." said the Pokemon like what he had said had anything to do with the situation.

I nodded "Good observation, now please leave me alo-"

Without warning I felt a warm, wet, and very large substance press up on my neck. Refusing to think that the Slowpoke had done what he did for a moment we just sat there with me thinking. What kind of life choices had I made that had me sitting in some club in Vermilion city with some Slowpoke _licking _my neck? What would the passer by think was going on when they saw-

"Aw, what a cute couple." stated an Oddish with a stupid smile on her face "I hope you two have a wonderful life together."

Well, at least I had an answer to one question.

Letting myself finally think that I had been licked I sighed "Why are you licking me?" My voice stung with disgust and dislike, but in his temporary (or permanent, I had no idea what little thought this Pokemon was capable of) state of stupidity my new best friend had something off topic to say.

"I just wanna love you man."

Enraged I blasted him off of me with a weaker, but well placed psychic blast. Nothing too strong, but enough to but him on the ground.

"Why don't you ever look at me when we kiss anymore?" he cried out in an absurdly loud voice "I thought we were more than that?"

To make matters worse it appeared that everyone and their trainer had heard this last outburst and was now staring at me and my apparent ex-boyfriend. Not wanting to sit around and wait for this already terrible situation to get any worse I stood up and simply walked away. Hiding myself in a crowd of dancing maniacs I thought what I would do for the rest of the night.

I had to find someone to talk to, before my brain died of atrophy.

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

"Oh man, this place is just amazing!" I shouted with joy. Spark and Razor flanked me on either side and we were enjoying the sights and sounds of the moment. We were sitting at a bar, enjoying a few free Oran berry drinks and life couldn't be better.

"I knew this place would be great, wonder why Ruby and Dexter were so against it?" asked Spark before taking a sip of his drink.

"You're really wondering why?" laughed Razor before sighing "Ruby's slightly crazy and doesn't like people, if you hadn't noticed it by now."

"And Dexter hates fun, so... he would hate this place too." I added on "But lets not think about them, lets just relax and have some fun."

Suddenly a question popped into my head and I lacked the self restraint to ask it so I turned to Spark and said "Oh, Spark. They'res something I wanted to ask you." I glanced at Razor "And you too Raze. How did you guys end up with your trainers?"

Spark had a look of genuine surprise on his face, but Razor nodded thoughtfully "I'll answer first alright Spark."

The Pikachu made a hand gesture "Sure, shoot."

Razor sighed and and leaned into the bar "Well, I knew of Katherine probably about ten years ago in Pallet town. Being the son of Ivysaurs I knew very much that I was being bred to be a starter Pokemon. She was just a little girl back then, but she was really interested in Pokemon in general. She would visit Prof. Oak's lab really often, but I never really paid attention to her."

"So you ignored her?" I asked."

The Bulbasaur shook his head "No, not at all. I was just always busy when Oak was doing all then tours-"

"By Oak you mean _the _Professor Oak right?" asked Spark suddenly.

Razor nodded "Yep, the big guy himself. Anyway it was during that time when I first met Ruby and saw how people treated her differently. I felt bad for her and I kinda made it my job to look out for her and make sure other Pokemon wouldn't mess with her."

I nodded "And they were bothering her because of her fur?" I still had bad memories of that night in Pewter city and how badly I had hurt her.

"Yeah it was." replied Razor in a solemn tone "Anyway, I got to know Katherine around two years ago when she started to get involved with the actual lab. She got interested in me and would spend a lot of the time just talking with me, even though she couldn't expect an intelligent response." the Bulbasaur smiled " She would just talk and talk about things and I'd just listen. I really got to know her and we got close so when the time came for her to choose a starter she chose me by name."

"And you went with her?" I asked rhetorically.

"Not at first..." answered Razor "I wanted to go with her, but I couldn't leave Ruby there by herself and I made that very clear." he shrugged and smirk "So Oak let it happen, he let Katherine leave with both me and Ruby."

"Alright, cool story." I said very impressed "How about you Spark?"

The Pikachu took a sip from his drink "Nothing much to say really... I grew up around Jack, he wanted me to go with him and I accepted."

Razor stared at Spark blankly "That's it, no monologue or-"

"I just don't really want to talk about it right now." replied the mouse in a low voice "Alright?"

I had never seen Spark like that, it was almost like when he thought of the past somethings came up that he didn't want to remember. He was my friend and I didn't want to hurt him, no I didn't continue to bother him about it.

Wanting the awkward moment to pass I had to find something to say to keep the night going. I found my perfect opportunity when a very pregnant looking Umbreon walked pass with a Rattata.

"Oh, when are you expecting?" I asked with a glad tone. I really wasn't interested, but I needed something to keep talking about.

The Umbreon paused and looked at me with a confused look on her face "What do you mean?"

Chuckling I violated her personal space and felt her belly "I mean who do we have here?"

Spark and Razor looked at me with fearfull looks, and when the Umbreon replied I figured out why.

"That's my belly?" she said with a disturbed tone.

Putting the pieces together I realized my mistake. A normal person may have apologized for touching a strangers stomach and maybe would have done something as compensation, but I'm not a normal Pokemon and I made matters worse when I said "Oh... so you're just fa-" I stopped myself before I could finish dropping to f-bomb, but the message was clear.

"I'm so sorry-" added Razor "He's really dumb."

'"You're terrible." stated the chubby Umbreon before walking away with the Rattata, leaving me feeling like an idiot.

"I'm gonna go somewhere..." said Razor getting up from his seat "I'll uh, see you guys later..." I didn't blame him for leaving, some Pokemon can't take a certain amount of awkwardness.

"That was pretty bad Night." said Spark taking another sip of his drink "But that's okay, I still love you."

"You've been hanging around me for too long Spark." I said sighing "My sarcasm is leaking into you're mind."

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

It's difficult to feel alone when surrounded by Pokemon having so much fun, but I managed to do it. Half awake and fully out of it I sat in quiet depression at a table. Various Pokemon had recognized me, but I was in no mood to satisfy some fan and didn't even respond to requests for pictures or autographs. My brilliant plan of going out for the night was falling apart around me, and I would've rather been alone in my penthouse than alone in some shallow Vermilion Pokemon club.

"Here is your Shuca Berry drink, Ms. Scarlet." stated a polite server, placing the beverage on my lonesome table and rushing off to service other customers.

After the waiter was gone I eyed my drink and frowned, the idiot gave me a normal cup. Seeing that I was a Ponyta and lacked the hands or paws to lift the cup I was forced to just stare at the yellow drink in sorrow.

Thinking about it now, that drink almost represented me. The Shuca Berry was a fragile fruit, with a sweat burst of flavor that would be followed by a sharp, but satisfying aftertaste. That was me, I was soft, and easy to break. On the outside I looked sweat, I looked innocent. But on the inside I was sour and tainted. I had spent my whole life trying to keep up appearances, appearances of a guilt free living and a life that would not be like my mother's. But it was anything but that.

I had made myself feel better by helping Team Rocket take down the Asylum, but I still knew that it was my family's money that made it possible for that place to even be created. The lifeblood of that... that torture facility was money that had my name on it and I could have stopped it at any time if I had felt like it. I had been doing the wrong thing the whole time, but I kept telling myself that it had to happen.

Not wanting to stop the habit of making myself feel like garbage I thought about my current situation and saw that I was doing the same thing. I was having Napoleon hunt down some poor Pokemon that had gone through the Asylum while I sat in some bar and felt bad about myself. I knew hunting that Pokemon down was wrong, but I told myself that it had to be done. No matter how terrible the action was I felt like I needed to keep myself safe and if another Pokemon had to suffer... it was a terrible side effect.

"Shuca Berry, interesting choice." spoke a goofy sounding male voice.

Alerting myself to my surroundings I spotted a kind looking Bulbasaur looking at me with large red eyes. He wore a comedian's smirk on his face and his two front paws were resting on my table "A little spicy for me, but you are a fire-type so maybe it's up your alley."

"If you want a picture with me or something you're asking me on the wrong night." I replied in a sharp tone "Sorry, I'm just not in the mood to be celebrity watched."

The Bulbasaur raised a brow "Celebrity? I had no idea." his voice had no tone of sarcasm as he continued "I just saw that you were looking a little down and I thought I should come over and cheer you up."

I let a dry laugh escape my mouth "And how would you do that, tell me jokes?"

"What did the fire type say to the cute water type?" asked the Bulbasaur, as if to set up a joke.

Starting to enjoy the little grass-type's company I humored him"What?"

"Water you doing tonight?"

It wasn't a funny joke, it wasn't even smile worthy. But that toothy grin he gave after he finished was just enough to make me smile.

"See..." said the Bulbasaur looking very satisfied "There's a smile."

"That wasn't even a funny joke." I said trying to hide my new found smile.

The Bulbasaur leaned in to the table "Which makes it even funnier that you smiled."

"Well-" I sat up "Darling I smiled because... you're a little charming is all."

"Darling?" asked the grass-type "Where'd you pick up that little phrase?"

I took a moment to think about it "I believe I got it from my mother. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing it's just." the Bulbasaur sighed "It's really, really cute."

The moment those words hit my ears I felt my heart skip a beat. Never before had someone been so sincerely kind to me. Every time someone had been that nice to me before it was because they knew I was powerful and wanted to take advantage of that. But this Pokemon was different, he seemed like he was being genuinely kind to me just for the sake of being kind.

"I'm sorry dear, but I never caught your name." I said with a smile.

"I go by the forever standard name of Razor," said the Bulbasaur with a shine in his eye.

"Razor..." I patted a seat next to me "If you're not busy, why don't we talk for a while?"

Razor pouted, then smiled "Sure, I have all night."

* * *

Dusk's point of view

* * *

"So, how long have you been a part of this little family Dusk?" asked Crystal with increasing interest.

"Um, not much longer than you actually." I paused "In fact I was only caught by Katherine a day or two before you decided to join the group. Why, is it all you expected?"

The Glaceon looked down and fiddled with the table we were currently sitting at. I don't know why I said that, of course she wasn't expecting to be judged so harshly for being a part of Team Rocket. On top of that I couldn't even imagine having to go through all of these changes without your best friend and having to deal with the death of your lifelong trainer at the same time. I had true sympathy for her, but she didn't seem like the kind of girl who would accept pity from others.

"It's... it's a change. I can say that." she added a weak laugh at the end "Really, I just want to feel like I'm part of the group and with the way Ruby and I are feuding that isn't going to happen anytime soon."

I waved my paw in a dismissive manor "Don't worry about Ruby, she'll tire herself out soon enough. Just several days ago she was on the verge of killing me, but now we're fine and every now and then she makes sure I know she doesn't completely hate my guts anymore."

"Why was Ruby mad at you, I can't see why anyone could be mad at you Dusk." she flashed a kind smile "Your such a nice Pokemon."

I responded with a weak smile "Well, I can say she was a little justified. I did things that I wish I didn't have to to save someone close to me."

Crystal gave an understanding nod "Did you do it out of the kindness of your heart one-hundred percent?"

"Yeah."

Crystal leaned into the table "Then you did the right thing. I-" she sat back down "I keep wondering how far I would go to bring Amber back. I- I'd do anything just to have the chance to see her again... to have a chance to at least say goodbye..." she looked down at the table as tears started to form in her eyes.

"Hey, don't cry. I'm sure Amber knew you cared about her..." I put a paw on her back "Alright. I'll go see if I can find you some tissues."

I got up from our little table and made my way across the dance floor. I felt like one of the many waiters would know where I could find a handkerchief or something. Spotting one across the main floor I made to choice to cut through the dense crowd of dancing Pokemon to get to him. Things got tighter and tighter as I got deeper into the crowd. Soon I found it neer impossible to get on foot in front of the other as Pokemon danced manically around me. I tried to say excuse me, but with the music and yelling I couldn't even hear myself.

Suddenly I felt a cold, scaly hand grab me by the neck and squeeze. Before I could scream another hand covered my mouth and a fine powder filled my nostrils. Quickly I felt myself get very tired as my muscles and will started to face. The hands slowly guided me to the floor and with my conscience fading I looked up to at least see who was attacking me. Looking down on my with sad red eyes was a face that I had seen before, but in my current state I found it impossible to identify. Before the sleep could overtake me the figure leaned down and whispered into my ear three simple words.

"I'm sorry Dawn."


	76. Benign Corruption: Placing the Pieces

A new chapter and some more developments. In the next few chapters I'll be spending a little less time with Night and the crew, but don't worry, it will be worth it.

A question for all you love birds. What do you think is the best romantic relationship in the story thus far?

Hope you like it.

* * *

Razor's point of view

* * *

"So your family's originally from Unova?" I asked with actual interest "Then how did you end up in Kanto?"

Scarlet and I had been talking for a while now, but it seemed like we couldn't run out of things to talk about. She was so interesting, so different. I kept being surprised by how well versed and intelligent she was, and I was truly enjoying talking with her.

The Ponyta sighed "I moved to Kanto a couple of years ago to prove that I could make a living for myself. My mother has always been harsh on me for living off my inheritance... but right now I'm just trying to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life."

"Well I wouldn't worry about it, at least not tonight." I gave a reassuring smile "Just try and enjoy yourself. I think you deserve it."

"I'm not so sure about that one dear." she said in a distant voice "I've done a lot of things that I'm not proud of-"

I shrugged "So, everyone does. I know I only just met you but I can tell that you're a good person."

The Ponyta's face lit up, her deep blue eyes glared into mine with a kindness that I could sense. I had only known her for a few hours, but there was a need for me to spend more time with her. I could just talk and talk for hours with that girl, and I would do anything to just hear her speak again.

"You know, I really should get going though Razor." spoke Scarlet "It was really nice talking with you though... I- I would... no, never mind."

"What, no tell me." I said with urgency.

She looked away as if she was embarrassed and replied "I... we could keep talking if you..." she sighed and looked me in the face "If you would like I could invite you over. I live only a few minutes away."

For a second I didn't know what to say. My first impulse was to say no, but as I thought about it I knew it was what I wanted to do. I sighed and came to my conclusion.

I let myself smile again and responded "You know, I think I'll take you up on that offer."

* * *

Dexter's point of view

* * *

"For future reference, it's probably best for you to _not _touch the belly's of random women." I spoke with hindsight knowledge to Night. After hearing about his near fatal mistake I couldn't help but to put my insight to work.

It had been a couple of minutes, or hours, since we had come into the club and I was still having the smallest amount of fun possible without dying. I had escaped my previous situation with the bizarre Slowpoke and had happily exchanged it to spend some time with Spark and Night. Being Pokemon of the same trainer I wanted to make sure we were all squared away and knew how to work together. Looking back it's clear that a Vermilion city dance club wasn't the best place to do that.

"It's also not the best for a psychic type to sneak into a dark types mind..." said Night nonchalantly " But that's just me."

I sighed "I apologized for that, it was wrong and I shouldn't have done it-"

"But I did have a few questions for you on it." replied Night with a smile."

I had no want or interest when it came to that event, but I recognized that I had attacked him and had attempted to make him insane so the least I could do was let him ask me a few questions.

"Let me ask on first-" started Spark "Why did you seem to just appear out of nowhere after Night kicked you out of his head?"

"I didn't appear out of thin air, I was in the trees above you when I started the attack and I had placed myself directly above Night to ensure that I was putting my full attention into him." I started "When Night attacked me in his subconscious I lost my balance and fell out of the tree."

"Another question" said Night "After you were out and he had that little battle, you seemed so weak. But then I hear about your little battle in Cerulean city and it turns out you were really strong... where did that come from."

"That's a simple one to answer" I stated, using a quick psychic to take a sip of my drink "At the time I attacked you I hadn't been in a battle in months and was terribly out of shape and wasn't ready for a fight. Not to mention I couldn't be at top condition after falling out of a tree and add on the fact that you are a dark-type... it was a battle I couldn't win. But in Cerulean I had regained my mind for battle and could utilize my techniques to the fullest."

"And one last question Dex-" spoke Night leaning in closer to me "What were you doing before Jack caught you? Just sitting in trees and attacking random people?"

I looked down as I remembered my life before Jack had captured me, and wasn't too happy about it "I-I was doing things that I shouldn't have done. I used to work for a group of people that thought they were doing the right thing... but when I found out their leaders true intentions, I had to leave."

Night glared at me blankly, he wasn't satisfied with my answer "Anymore information you can g-"

"What's up asses?" blurted out the uncomfortably familiar voice of our resident vixen "How's your night been so far?"

Night smirked "Oh you know, he's still just as sleek and sexy as ever." replied the Umbreon with a snide smile on his face.

"You just constantly make sure that everyone knows you're a complete idiot don't you?" snapped Ruby, she seemed to be having just as much fun as I was.

Night frowned "There's no need to be so mean, we're trying to enjoy ourselves here."

"How? This place is terrible!" shouted Ruby "It's just a bunch of stupid Pokemon dancing mindlessly, I said this would be hell."

"You're just evil and can't stand when people are having fun-" started Night.

"But we should get going, I wouldn't want Jack and Katherine freaking out about where we are. Last time we disappeared Night ended up in the Asylum so I'd hate to think of what they would worry about now." stated Spark being a voice of reason as always.

"I agree, let's see if we can find Razor, Crystal and Dusk and get out of here." my voice was one of urgency, I wanted to leave that place the moment I entered.

Night frowned "Aw fine, let's go." he hoped down from his stool "Let's just hope we can find them in this place."

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

"Well, this is my place." I said upon entering my home. Looking back on the moment I realize now that I had never really had anyone inside my penthouse besides Napoleon.

Razor's eyes scanned the place "Wow Scarlet," he gave a little laugh "This place is amazing."

"Thank you darling." I said waltzing over to my fainting couch and sitting down "So you were saying that you were bred to be a starter Pokemon for Pallet town trainers."

He nodded "Yep, from a young age I was surrounded by humans to that I could learn to understand them and trust them more that a regular Pokemon. It really wasn't so hard in retrospect. Being a Bulbasaur, the first Pokemon discovered by the human race, I was a hot item on the market so I had a large amount of trainers vying for me."

I nodded "Interesting, were there any other Bulbasaur in the town? If you were the only one I guess that would be a big deal."

At the mention of other Bulbasaurs I saw Razor's eyes loose their shine, like he was thinking of something unpleasant "There were more Bulbasaurs... my sister was also being trained to be a starter."

"Do you know if she ended up with a good trainer, there's nothing worse than a terrible Pokemon trainer-" I started.

"No... she... she never got the chance to have a trainer choose her." he frowned "Something happened that changed her and ... never mind it's not important" his smile suddenly came back "I've heard that you're good friends with mister Napoleon."

"Yes I am dear." I stood up and glanced out to my balcony "I've known that Snivy most of my life." I smirked "I met him when my mother was going on a business trip and had me stay with her closest friend from her childhood. Napoleon was the child of that friend and we ended up becoming little buddies."

"A little you playing with a little Napoleon. How cute." laughed Razor "But childhood friendships are the best ones at least from my experience." he paused "But there is one thing I've always wondered about him."

I raised a brow "What?"

"Why does he just let trainers battle him?" asked the Bulbasaur "Isn't that dangerous, he could get caught."

I laughed at the idea of Napoleon getting caught "Don't worry about him darling, Napoleon would never let himself gets caught. Trainers that battle him are usually of novice level and advanced trainers don't want to catch him because they've completed their teams. Mostly he does it to keep his celebrity status when he isn't saving the day."

Razor nodded "Well, he seems like a really interesting person. I hope I get to meet him."

"I'm sure you will" I replied "He's always around doing something." I gestured to my kitchen "Would you like something to drink?"

My guest's eyes lit up and he smiled "You know what, I think I would."

* * *

Acid's point of view

* * *

"Claire I really don't understand how Giovanni hasn't gotten rid of you yet." snarled Amethyst, her blood red eyes locking with Claire's cold brown ones "You admit to killing one of your partners and just leaving them to the police instead of bringing them back. What the hell is wrong with you!"

The Pikachu stared at Amethyst with extreme disinterest as she crossed her arms "It's great to see you too Amethyst, Rust, Acid... I really thought you were going to die in the Asylum assignment." her voice had no remnants of sincerity or care. Her stark dark brown eyes perfectly showed how little she cared about those around her "And I had a perfectly good reason for ending the life of my comrade. I was in a fight with Jane and Black and I knew I wouldn't be able to win. Before that mission both of them told me that they would rather die than end up in the hands of the enemy and to kill them if I knew I wouldn't be able to get them out of there." she sighed "I didn't like it, but I got it done-" she gave a saddened laugh "I even licked the knife, you know, to scare the little Pokemon with them."

Rust frowned "Or you're just a sick person... could be either one."

Claire shrugged "Whatever, think what you want. I'm here because I need to make sure you don't screw this up."

I took that as I direct attack and sighed "I think you're underestimating us and overstating the task. Worse case scenario we have to protect Night and the Purrloin from Team Galactic. Even if they send their best squad we have you as backup."

Claire smirked "You really don't get it do you? Even two of that squad try to kill the Umbreon it will be near impossible to stop them, at least if we all want to stay alive. That's why I requested Giovanni send your trainer to assist."

"Really?" I asked trying my best not to show excitement. Our trainer was one of the few humans that I enjoyed spending time with. He could be a little cold and distant sometimes, but I knew he cared and wanted to make us the best at everything. Not to mention that he was one of the best trainers in Johto, he always said he was second to only one.

Claire crossed her arms and looked around the warehouse we were currently in "Is there a reason you decided you stay in this disgusting building? It's so big and unnecessarily clunky..."

Amethyst frowned "We wanted to find a place that wouldn't draw too much attention."

"Plus we needed to find a place big enough Amethyst here could fit her ass though the do-" started Rust before he was hit sounded in the side by a swift kick by our resident Delcatty.

"Hmm, well I'm going to retire for the night." Claire yawned "I'm going to find Napoleon in the morning and see if he's made any progress in finding that Purrloin from the Asylum."

A pleased smile found it's way onto my face, out of all the things I had done for Team Rocket taking down the Asylum was my most treasured achievement. That place was a hell hole, a torture facility under the guise of a mental rehabilitation clinic. We had been trying to find that place for years, to show Galactic that Team Rocket wouldn't allow such a thing to happen in Kanto under our watch. Many citizens of the region would never know about that operation, but I would sleep well at night knowing that I had done the right thing.

But that wasn't the issue that mattered though, Scarlet and Napoleon were going to kidnap that Purrloin and if everything went right...

We were going to have the ability to play a god.


	77. Benign Corruption: Guilt and Consequence

Ugh, I was so lazy this past week so sorry about this update taking longer than it should have. I just needed one more little chapter to set up everything, can't let things get going too fast.

Anyway, for the question... it's something a little more general- what do you think of the "bad guys" so far in the story?. Any complains about them or do you think I've focused on one too much? I'd really appreciate it if you told me.

Thank you guys and gals and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

Everything in my being was shouting at me, I knew in my heart in mind that I was doing the wrong thing. In the past I had always wondered why people broke the law, why they did such terrible things... but at that moment I was doing a terrible thing and I kept telling myself that I was helping Scarlet and it was acceptable. At the time I stood in an empty warehouse and was looking down upon my unconscious target. The sleep powder had knocked her out cold and she had been asleep since the night before.

The morning sun soaked through the tattered windows and hit my scaly skin, but I felt no comfort. I tightened the black tie around my neck and sighed, I had taken Dawn now and it was too late to turn back. I resolved to make it through this and make sure I repaid my prisoner to the fullest when this was all over. If she was my master's daughter that was the least I could do to atone for my actions.

"Mr. Bonaparte I assume?" said a slimy female voice that reminded me of earlier times.

I put a deep frown on my face "Claire, you... have a good night's sleep?"

The Pikachu still wore her trademarked Team Rocket skin suit that hugged her form with plated armor. A sick smile was on her face and she walked at me with a purpose. Part of me was still strongly attracted to her, but remembering how our relationship had failed in the past put any romantic... or even positive feeling towards the Pikachu to rest.

Claire gave a smirk "Of course I did." she said putting a paw to her chest "The question is did mister goody two shoes 'Savior of Vermilion' have a good night's sleep."

"I haven't _been _to sleep yet-" I said with a yawn "I didn't want Dawn waking up in the middle of the night alone here." I looked back at the sleeping Purrloin in pity and guilt.

"That may have been the sweatiest thing I've ever heard you say..." she walked up next to me and said in a calm whisper "Except 'I love you Claire'."

Frowning I knew where she was going "Shut up Claire."

Not being one to follow orders the Pikachu continued "_You're the most beautiful Pokemon I've ever seen in my life, I want to spend the rest of my years with you Claire, I wa-" _

"I said shut up Claire!" I shouted in anger and frustration "I'm doing this crap for you and Team Galactic already. How's about you just be quiet and do what you want me to do?"

Claire's expression didn't change at all, like emotions were something the Pikachu had never acquired. Instead she crossed her arms and said "What's wrong Napoleon, did I hit a nerve. Does it hurt knowing that you're breaking the law and working with the _bad guys? _Maybe you just don't like being reminded that you're a man whore that goes around and courts any female he deems to be a worthy mate?"

"Please let me think Clai-"

"Or- or..." he extended a paw to my shoulder "Is it the fear that you have of losing it all. If anyone found out what you were doing-" she have a laugh "All of your credibility would be gone! Everything you've worked for... hell, the reason you wanted to get trained by the master in the first place."

"And you're one to talk Claire?" I yelled more than tired with the Pikachu "You dare question my character and my integrity when you've done terrible things?" my anger was seething and I had to continue "How many lives have to taken Claire? Five? Ten? Or has it been so many that you've lost count?"

Claire smiled "I guess I did hit a nerve-"

Not able to control myself around her I swiftly grabbed on to her little suit she wore and brought her in close to me, and with her being a bit shorter than me I lifted her off the ground "You don't have the right to talk to **_me_** like that you scum of the earth. I've done the right things in my life and I've struggled to keep the peace because of Pokemon and Humans like you. If you** _ever_** talk to me like that again-"

"You'll kill me Napoleon?" interjected Claire with a smile before laughing "Both of us know that isn't true, so why don't you just let me down before the Purrloin wakes up and thinks you're the bad guy?"

She was right, and she knew I knew she was right. I couldn't kill her, I could barley stand to hurt her. No matter what terrible things she had done or how many innocents she had harmed I could never find the strength to seriously attack Claire. Letting her drop to the ground I turned my full attention back to Dawn.

"I can't believe I'm doing this for you people..." I said in a distant voice as I crouched to the floor "This Pokemon, Dawn, she... she was such an innocent flower."

I heard Claire give a quick laugh before saying "Oh Napoleon, even you should know this by now." I heard her footsteps come next to me "Everyone starts off like that, but eventually life takes over. Out of everyone I know you should know the most about that."

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

I awake in a cold sweat, not entirely sure of what had occurred the night before. I was in my bed, but I didn't remember ever going to sleep. Scanning my room I was relieved to see that I was alone, but I had no idea where Razor had gone. The night before he had been a perfect gentlemen, but that could have all been an act.

_'Dammit Scarlet, why did you let a stranger into you home? He could have just waited for me to fall asleep and steal everything of value in this house!' _I thought sitting up in my bed.

The blanket I was covered in fell off my form and a wave of embarrassment fell over me as I saw that I was nude. I know it sounds bizarre to you humans coming from a Pokemon, but I found it repulsive to be without clothing. I always wore something when possible and even though I was by myself I had to put something on. Quickly I dawned my nightgown and looked myself over in the mirror. I was far from happy when I saw how I looked.

For starters, I had forgotten to take my makeup off the previous evening because of Razor and gad fallen asleep with it still on my face. It was now smudged and runny and just added to my ragged look that my wild mane and bloodshot eyes had already made up. My fur was unsettled and messy with various spots of uneven clumps littered my face.

Sighing at my deplorable condition I made my way through my door in into the main room of my home and expected to be alone. The moment I entered the living room a smell of food hit my nose and the sound of plates clinking entered my ears. Before I could wonder what was going on Razor seemed to appear out of nowhere holding a plate with his vines and a wide smile on his face.

"Good morning Scarlet." spoke the Bulbasaur in the same comical tone he had spoke in the night before. His bright red eyes beamed with genuine happiness "I made breakfast, you want some?"

The combination of surprise and pure happiness I felt when seeing him confirmed everything I had thought the night before. Razor was special, one in a million. He was the only person I had talked to in the past few years besides Napoleon that seemed like a real person. Razor was funny and smart and... just everything I needed in my life at the moment.

"You stayed here the whole night?" I asked trying my best to not sound angry.

"Yep." replied the grass type with a peppy tone as he grabbed a plate with a vine and brought it to me "Toast?"

Still amazed that he was still there I smiled "Sure... you had time to do this?"

"Of course. I woke up a little while ago and I thought I should make you breakfast for letting me come over and a good conversation." his voice rung like a bell of truth, a refreshing change from the lies I'm usually around.

"Oh... well then, thank you darling. This was a very kind thing to do." I responded.

Razor looked toward my door "Anyway I think I should get going, my trainer is probably freaking out about me right about now." he added a little laugh "But it was really nice spending time with you last night."

Feeling slightly saddened that he was leaving I sighed "As did I dear, perhaps I can see you again?"

The Bulbasaur waved nonchalantly "Sure, my group should be staying in Vermilion city for a while... hows about I swing over before my trainer challenges Surge and you could come along."

Surprised by his straightforwardness I gasped "And you're sure your trainer and friends wouldn't mind that?"

"I'm sure." he replied in a curt tone before making his way through the door "See ya around Scarlet!" and with that he closed the door.

"What an interesting Bulbasaur that is." I said out loud to no one "I think you have yourself a new little buddy Scarlet old gal."

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

From the time that Jack had captured me I had never really seen him get mad or disappointed in Spark, Dexter, or I. He always seemed like he was willing to give a smile and just warn us of the dangers he saw. I never struck him as the type to discipline us, but with the current situation I could understand why the usually cheerful goth was looking at us with silent anger.

"So you not only broke out of the day care that we put you in to keep you safe, you went and got Razor and Dusk lost?" his voice wasn't raised, but a deaf Snorlax would have known his unsatisfaction in us.

It was the morning after our nightly adventure in Vermilion and after our walk of shame the night before I knew this was coming. Jack and Katherine were glad to see us at the hotel at first, but after seeing that we were about two short the worry set in. Still remembering what had happened in the last city we were in Jack went to the police for help and just like last time they had come up with nothing so far. We had screwed up big time and as Dexter, Spark and I stood before our trainer I prepared myself for it.

"I can't believe you guys would do something like this. You completely ignore what I had said and once again you've gotten yourselves in a dangerous situation." his green eyes glared down at us "I'm really surprised by you Spark, I thought you would know better that to do this. Night, Dexter..." he sighed "I know we haven't known each other for a long time but I think it's implied that I want you to stay out of trouble and so far you guys have proven time and time again that when left by yourselves you make the wrong choices."

I couldn't even look the goth in the eye, he was right. We didn't do the right thing the night before and because of that Razor and Dusk could've be in another asylum by then. By the look in Spark's eye I could tell he was taking this one pretty hard. Always being the voice of reason in the past I hoped he wasn't going to blame everything on himself. Dexter looked ashamed, but wasn't backing away from Jack's little speech.

Jack sighed and stroked his red and black hair "Don't think that I'm mad or anything, I'm really not. I'm just disappointed... I'm going to talk with Katherine and Desmond." he groaned "You guys... just hang out here for a bit." and with that my disgruntled trainer walked away leaving his Pokemon to think about the situation they had put themselves in.

"He's right." quickly said Spark with a frown "We did this and we need to make it right."

"I actually agree with you-" I added "If we could find them we cou-"

"Wait, wait... let's not get ahead of ourselves" interjected Dexter with purpose "I doubt anything bad happened to them. We most likely simply lost track of them in that club and they're on their way back as we speak. I say we wait this out and let the Vermilion city police handle this."

"And I say if you had done that last time I'd still be rotting away in the Asylum or dead, so I'm not willing to take that chance with Razor and Dusk." I replied showing my opinion "Not to mention that Azelf warned me about the danger Dusk might face in this place and I don't want to see her get hurt."

As I said that a wave of guilt and realization fell over me. Razor might have just wandered off, but Dusk might have been kidnapped by the forces that Azelf himself told me about. I could have told her and maybe she would have been more alert. I could have persuaded everyone to stay in the day care for safety. I could have done something instead of just acting like an idiot the whole night, but I didn't. And now Dusk could be in peril and there was very little I could do about it.

"And it was our job to make sure nothing happened to her, I think we need to make sure that she and Razor aren't in trouble." said Spark before turning to Dexter "Night and I have come to our conclusion, and it would be great if you could help us."

Dexter looked down in thought for a second and shook his head "I'm sorry but I feel like that wouldn't be the best course of action to take. I'm putting my faith in the police department and I'm certain they will find them." he paused "I feel like you're jumping the gun on this to tell you the truth and you're proving Jack right if you go out by yourselves and try to do it your way."

"Say's the guy who broke into an underground facility-" I said with a bit of anger " I like to think I can make my own choices, I'm choosing to fix a problem that I helped cause unlike you and I don't see how you can say I'm doing the wrong thing."

"You know what, whatever." spoke Dexter raising his paws in a defensive manor "You do what you want, I'm not going to stop you. Just be aware of the-"

"On a scale of one to ten how badly do you think we screwed up last night?" interrupted the voice of Ruby who had entered the conversation without notice "Because I thinking around nine."

"Ruby I think you should be a part of this talk" said Dexter with a stern tone "Two days ago Night was visited by Azelf who told him that Dusk would be in immediate and real danger the moment she entered this city. He then felt the need to only tell Spark, the only reason I know is because I overheard it. I wanted to tell Dusk as soon as possible to make sure she was safe, but Night felt differently."

Feeling betrayed by the Espeon I didn't even have time to blink before Ruby yelled at me "Are you serious you retarded Umbreon, Dawn could be in danger now and you knew it was going to happen?"

"Yeah I did but-"

"But nothing Night, I'm in on this too and you need to tell me crap like this!" she screamed at me with fury in her eyes "And how do we know Razor isn't with her, he could be in danger now too because you thought no one should know about what might happen to them!" without warning the fox hit me in the leg hard "You freaking bastard!"

Now really feeling sorry about myself I tried to get a word in " Ruby I'm sorry-"

"Oh you're sorry, because that makes it better right asshole?" replied Ruby "Just don't even say anything Night. You screwed this up bad, let's just hope that someone in this city can fix what you did."

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

"White... I'm sorry that I can't say I'm glad to see you-" I said with a distant tone of dislike.

Claire shrugged next to me "I'm not, I don't want to see your Team Galactic kissing ass around here but since we did kick your ass in your own facility..."

White had just entered the run-own warehouse that I had chosen to put Dawn in. It was desolate and a little dirty, but it was on the city limits and wouldn't draw any attention. Despite the fact that I was proud of finding the place I was a little less than proud of the activity that would be taking place there. But I had done my part an I was getting ready to severe ties with this operation before I got caught with them.

White eyed our unconscious Purrloin prisoner and smirked "Excellent job Napoleon, you're done a good job."

I frowned at the Meowth "Don't flatter me White, you know I didn't want to do this. Will you leave Scarlet and I alone now?"

White put his paws into his suit jacket "I would leave you alone along with the rest of Team Galactic-" started the Meowth.

"But-" added in Claire "I'd still be all over your green butt Napoleon. Team Rocket wants to make sure that you just don't turn on us... so after talking it over with Giovanni I've decided to make you stay here as long as the tests are in progress."

My temper flared, this wasn't a part of the original deal "And what if I refuse? You can't make me do anything!"

The Pikachu shrugged "True, but it would be truly unfortunate if your Ponyta friend Scarlet had a little..." Claire unsheathed a blade and licked it "Accident?"

"You wouldn't touch her." my voice went deep and a grabbed my blade to show I was serious.

"I would, so if I were you I would sit pretty and do what Team Rocket says." replied Claire with a smile "I'm running this now so be a good little hero and do what you're told."

I sighed, knowing that she was right. Scarlet had made mistakes and now I was paying for them. A week before I never would have thought I would have kidnapped some poor girl off the streets and have her tied up in some warehouse for Team Rocket an Galactic. Accepting that I was in this now I calmed down. They were going to do tests on Dawn... fine... but the moment my job is done I was leaving and I was going to make sure that I brought Dawn with me. Perhaps if I explained the situation she wouldn't hate my guts for doing this to her.

Looking down on the still sleeping Purrloin I sighed and quietly said "I'm sorry Dawn...I'm so sorry."


	78. Benign Corruption: Awakening

Hey guys, I have a new chapie for you. Sorry this one took a little while, I got a serious case of writer's block in the middle of writing this... which leads me to another part of this authors note. For those of you you don't follow me, I have a new story up! It's a comedic story that puts Pokemon from this story in the various universes of other shows (cartoons, movies, etc.). It won't be updated super often, but I hope you'll give it a read.

Anywho, for the chapter question: who is the most evil person in the story?

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

My whole body felt numb but uncomfortable at the same time and my mind was blank like I had just slept for days. Spirit and body I was weak and for the first minute or so after regaining consciousness I just sat there like a ragdoll trying to get my wits about me. I knew I was on some type of concrete floor and my front paws were strapped to the wall I was leaning on, but how I got there... I had no clue.

_'What happened?'_ was the first real thought to cross my mind. I was far too woozy to be nervious or scared, but all that would change very soon.

Finding the strength to open my eyes I moaned as light attacked my senses. I must've been out for some time because the little amount of light started to warp my vision and give me headaches. Through the discomfort I forced my eyes open and thought I was ready for whatever was waiting for me.

"Dawn, you're awake." spoke a vaguely familiar male voice "Don't be scared okay, just stay calm and nothing bad will happen to you."

Feeling almost safer that I had been called by my true name and more concerned at the same time I looked to the source of the voice and my heart dropped. I hadn't seen the Snivy in months, but he still looked the same. His gray oxford shirt and black tie was still his choice of attire and his orange eyes still had a want for justice behind them, but in the situation I was in I wondered why he was there.

"Napoleon, what are you doing?" I pleaded.

His gaze went down to his feet " It's really complicated Dawn and I'm really sorry that you had to get involved with this."

Not knowing what he was talking about I questioned him with a much more serious tone " What's going on Napoleon?"

"Calm yourself down kitty, we wouldn't want your blood pressure to go up now." spoke a female voice directly next to me. Quickly turning my head to this new voice I was worried to see a Pikachu in a Team Rocket suit with a devilish smile on her face. She was leaning on the wall I was propped up agaist with her arms crossed and had a strong uncaring air about her.

Slightly scared by this new character I stuttered "W-who are you?"

The Pikachu frowned, pushed herself off the wall and lazily trotted past me "In case you couldn't figure it out, I'm with Team Rocket little ms. How's about you call me Claire?"

"What do you want with me?" I said figuring that this Pikachu was the one behind all of this "Claire." I added after the fact.

Claire clasped her paws together "Well aren't you the polite prisoner? I only have a few rules and if you follow all of them this whole process will be painless... well... less painful for you. Would you like to know them?"

I nodded wanting this whole thing to go faster.

"Okay, that's rule number one- always respond with your voice. Don't nod or shake your head, I don't do that crap. You reply to me with your little vocal cords in that cute little neck of yours alright Purrloin?" said the Pikachu with a tone in her voice.

"Okay, sorry." I lowered my head to look at the cement floor.

"Rule number two- no screaming for any reason. You get scared? Too bad, don't freak out. You get hurt? Suck it up or talk to Bonaparte here, I'm sure he'll talk sweat to ya when you need it." the Pikachu punched Napoleon in the shoulder "Isn't that right?"

"Shut up Claire, this isn't a game and Dawn isn't a toy." replied Napoleon with a sharp voice "You really make me sick."

"Stop letting things get personal Napoleon. You know Claire better than I do, but even I realize that she's doing this for her own entertainment." spoke a distinguished and calm male voice. I spotted a Meowth dressed in a well groomed suit jacket and slacks with a sinister looking black sword at his side "And Claire, stop scaring the girl. She's already nervous and if she isn't calm this won't work."

Claire pouted "Oh right White, I forgot, Giovanni made me your bitch for this mission eh?" he turned back to me "Don't be scared. He looks all scary and bad-ass but he's just a sweat little pussycat." she crouched down and leveled her face with mine "Just like you."

Slowly I was realizing just how much trouble I was in, but this time I didn't have anyone else to try and escape with. I didn't have Night by my side or Pyro to protect me, and that just scared me even more. All I had was Napoleon and even he seemed to be in on this... but he was still better than Claire.

"Napoleon please tell me what's going on, why am I here?" I pleaded to the grass-type with urgency.

The Snivy looked at me with a look of pity that I had never seen before, he truly felt sorry for me. I saw his fists tense up and his face dipped to the floor "Dawn... there's something inside of you, something that Team Rocket and Team Galactic want. They..." he sighed "They have someone that I love and care about deeply under their control and unless I did this for them they would hurt that person."

"So..." I said in a saddened voice "You're willing to hand me over to Team Galactic and Team Rocket...to save one of your friends?"

"That's what it looks like cutey." sounded the voice of Claire.

"Don't take it personally Purrloin." stated the cold, calculating voice of White. He took a step towards me "Napoleon was put in this situation and wanted the best for a childhood friend. It's not his fault you are here." he paused before continuing "We will be preforming a series of blood tests on you to see if we can extract a certain chemical compound from you. It will be uncomfortable and it will be unpleasant, but if this is successful it will bring good things to the world."

"What are you trying to find?" I asked.

Claire put a devilish smirk on her face again "You really don't know doll? Did you neglect to notice your little bursts that you activate every now and then, because in the Asylum reports one of the Pokemon you fought said you displayed incredible speed and strength for short periods of time. Yes the powers did wear off, but while they were in effect they were very brutal." she placed a paw on White " Galactic and Rocket made a deal, we work together to make sure that only we obtain that power and dominate all the other Teams running around and causing trouble for us."

My whole body tensed up as I remembered my bizarre ability. I never liked it, but it had helped me out of a few jams... and now it had put me into a dangerous situation including Team Rocket and Galactic. I knew I was a monster but I never thought that it would make me become a target "So this is a strategic move... and I guess you're going to take whatever makes me stronger and faster out of my blood?"

"We're going to try." responded White "And I can' tell you that it will be painless or quick. We'll give you half the day to rest but then we need to get working-" he turned and started to walk away "I want to get some things in order before we start."

* * *

Razor's point of view

* * *

"What you mean Dusk isn't back yet?" I asked with a slight tone. I had just gotten back to the Pokemon center and Katherine was more than glad to see me. After hugging me for half an eternity I overheard her saying that she was worried about Dusk. At the time I was speaking with Crystal who had sneaked away from Katherine during her moment with me.

"I mean she's been since missing last night, same as you up to five minutes ago." replied the Glaceon "Everyone's been a little on edge."

I frowned, this wasn't good. Having Dusk missing brought back bad memories from when Night was taken into the Asylum, and I was in no mood to repeat that emotional roller coaster "Is that all you know?"

Crystal was about to respond when Ruby rudely stepped in and pushed me aside "Excuse me Crystal, Razor and I have to talk- thanks."

Knowing I couldn't fight Ruby when she was in her mood I inadvertently waved at Crystal and stumbled into a corner with Ruby "Alright, I'm happy to see you too."

"That's not what this is about." responded Ruby quickly "You know what happened to Dusk right?"

I nodded "Yeah, it's ba-"

"Night knew something was going to happen to her and didn't tell anyone but Spark and Dexter about it." spat out the vixen with a look of anger on her face "He didn't even tell Dusk herself."

Putting a paw up I said "Whoa, let's just think here for a second Rubes, how would Night know that Dusk is in danger... can he see the future or something?"

"This isn't a time for jokes Razor..." replied Ruby in a genuine tone "He.. he..." she frowned "You know I'm not Dusk's biggest fan, but I don't want her getting hurt alright? She isn't the_ worst_ person in the world and it just pisses me off that Night knew she was in danger- that we all were in danger and didn't do anything!"

I sighed "What do you want me to do about it Ruby? Yell at him? If he somehow knew that Dusk was in trouble and didn't tell us... then he screwed up and I'll have to talk to him about it. I'm sure everyone's a little out of it."

"But that doesn't excuse him!" exclaimed Ruby in anger "I'm going to yell at him some more, Night messed up big this time and he's gonna pay."

* * *

Acid's point of view

* * *

"The Bulbasuar is back in the Pokemon center." I said to my radio "All of them with the exception of the Purrloin are together."

There was a slight delay before the voice of Amethyst replied "Good, lets try to keep it that way. If they're all together it will be much easier to keep them safe." she paused " Just be on the lookout Acid, I don't want you getting hurt."

I sighed and laughed a little "Don't stress about me Amethyst, I'll be fine. Just focus on making sure we have all the information about that Team Galactic squad. The last thing I want to happen is to get bum rushed by a group of Pokemon I don't know anything about."

The was a slight pause before she responded "Fine, I'll radio you later Acid. Out."

As the radio call ended I stared out over Vermilion city and sighed, I finally had a moment to myself to think. I was mainly excited to see my trainer again since I hadn't talked to him in months. No matter how many different humans I met my trainer never ceased to amaze me. He was a quiet young man and didn't react to many things, but when it came to me and his other Pokemon... he was as active as anyone. He made it a priority of his to make sure that his Pokemon could communicate with him, so he taught us how to speak human and he learned how to understand Pokemon. He had such an iron will and had an incredible record for getting things done.

Sitting down on the roof I currently resided I thought of how he would react to us, he had just taken down a Team Galactic base without him. Being Giovanni's right hand man I was sure he would praise us, even though he wasn't one for celebrations.

I had to stop my moment of thought when I saw a side window of the Pokemon center open and out of it jumped a focused Umbreon and a Pikachu with a blue scarf around his neck. Quickly recognizing them as two of the Pokemon I was contracted to protect I made the choice to trail them. Jumping into action I jumped off the short rooftop and landed in silence.

The duo made the choice to move into the alleyway, so I had to follow them. Careful to keep my distance I did my best to hug walls and stay out of sight. But I hadn't trailed anyone in a long time and I was a little rusty. Being so focused on not being seen I made the bonehead mistake of bumping onto a very loud trashcan that proceeded to fall over with a loud clang. The Pikachu and the Umbreon turned around to see some weird looking white Pokemon with a purple cloud around his neck stalking them.

I wonder why they reacted so strongly?

"Who are you!" demanded the Umbreon with a frown on his face. His red eyes had a passion in them that I didn't expect to see from a dark-type.

"Don't get scared, I wa-" I tried to say.

"You're with Team Rocket." stated the Pikachu "You have their emblem on your little belt there."

I cursed under my breath, I didn't realize that I was still wearing that dumb utility belt. Why Giovanni insisted on having a Team Rocket R on these is beyond me.

The Pikachu grabbed his right arm with his left paw and electricity surged from his body "Tell us what you did with Dusk, I know you have something to do with it."

_'Great.'_ I thought _'These guys aren't as stupid as I was hoping.' _Thinking over my options I decided that I didn't want to get into a fight and tried to act nice "Look, I'm not here to hurt you."

"That's big talk coming from a weirdo that was just following us." spoke the Umbreon as he got into a combat stance "Tell us where you put Dusk before you get hurt."

From the file I read on the Umbreon it appeared that he was less inclined to violence, so when I heard that threat I didn't really know how to react "How's about we just talk for a second."

I got my answer when the Pikachu let loose his electric attack at me. I had less than a moment I sidestep the very strong looking attack and get ready for a fight.

"Fine, you wanna fight?" I said standing straight up "You'll have one.

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

I didn't know who this weird looking Pokemon was or how long he was following me, but I knew he was in Team Rocket and I knew something had happened to Dusk. Maybe that Napoleon guy was in with Team Rocket, maybe he didn't have anything to do with Dusk's disappearance... but I didn't care. I was angry, angry at myself, angry at this city and I had to take it out on someone.

This Rocket had messed with the wrong Umbreon.

"Night duck!" yelled Spark. I saw what he meant as a pin needle attack sped at me. I couldn't dodge all of them and several of the annoying little barbs stuck into me. Retaliating as quick as I could I launched a quick shadow ball at my opponent.

The Pokemon rolled out of the way and lunged at Spark. The Pikachu didn't see this coming and was pinned to the group by the slightly larger Rocket. Taking a lesson from his first battle with yours truly Spark grabbed on to both of the strange Pokemon's front legs and let the thuder wave attack do the work. Jumping into action myself I charged at the Rocket and headbutted him in the side.

Knowing that did some damage I knew the wince on his face was genuine, but I also knew he was far from done. The cloud of gas around his neck started to move violently and suddenly like he was preparing an attack. Not wanting to give him a chance to strike back I lunged at him with a faint attack. However, before I could reach him the poison-type opened his mouth and a toxic haze filled the little alleyway where we were dueling.

Stopping me in my tracks the purple cloud engulfed me. I was careful not to breath in, but that didn't seem to fight the effects of the poison attack. My body started to grow weak and I started to feel ill. Breathing in involuntarily the gas hit me harder and the effects became more intense and as I looked over to Spark I knew we were in trouble.

"Stay focused Night!" yelled the Pikachu, even though it was obvious he was in peril as well "I'm not standing down yet."

With a valiant scream Spark released his energy in the form of a strong thundershock attack. The electricity ran through the mystery Pokemon and ended the haze attack. Not backing down and knowing he was gaining the upper hand Spark kept his thundershock on our shared enemy while looking at me "I could use some help here!"

With Spark's words giving me the boost I needed I ran towards the still cringing Rocket and prepared to finish the fight. He reminded me of Dexter for some odd reason. The way he looked and sounded... it reminded me of when Dexter screamed after I attacked him on the road. There was an inoccence behind it, like he thought he was doing the right thing. This thought made me stop before attacking him... and that was all this mystery Pokemon needed.

Breaking free from Spark's thundershock with a purpose the Team Rocket grunt did a swift one-two quick attack that hit both me and Spark before we knew what had happened. I was now on the ground and getting ready to stand up, before a poison tail attack slammed into my face and nearly knocked me out. I glared over at Spark just in time to see him get riddled with a pin needle attack.

The Pikachu fell to the ground with a pained groaned and appeared to be unconscious "Spark!" I yelled and tried to crawl over to him. My body felt weak and broken and as the poison made my condition worse and worse I knew I wasn't long for the waking world.

Suddenly a white furred foot blocked my path and I looked up to see the mystery Pokemon glaring down at me with light emerald eyes and a serious face "You're Night right?"

I stayed silent, I wasn't about to give this asshole information.

The white Pokemon smirked and leaned in "You don't have to answer, you can call me Giovanni and I'm in this city to protect you and your friends. I'm sorry I had to show you what I can do... but next time we meet I'll be on your side and make sure you remember that." he stood up "I'm sure someone will have heard this little commotion... you'll be back in the Pokemon center in no time."

As my vision faded and my body became useless I closed my eyes and accepted my body's invitation into unconsciousness, but before I could completely fade away I heard Giovanni say one last thing.

"Be ready for the future Night, things are just going to get harder for you."


	79. Benign Corruption: The Unsafe

Hey guys! I was thinking about how to handle this chapter and who to feature and I thought that a character needed more time in the spotlight.

Anywho, the question for this chapter... who do you think is Rust's, Acid's and Amethyst's trainer? ( I doubt you'll get this right, but I have put some clues in so maybe you will.)

* * *

Dexter's point of view

* * *

Apparently Night and Spark hadn't taken my words of wisdom to heart, because if they had they wouldn't have gotten themselves hurt in some alleyway brawl. A large part of me felt sorry for them, but I also had the strong urge to say 'I told you so' but looking at them lounging in the corner getting the potion treatment from Jack put that urge to rest.

"You guys..." said Jack before sighing "You can't seem to stay out of trouble. I take my eyes from you for a few minutes and you manage to get into a fight."

Spark was eying Jack straight on and had a look of true humility. From what I had observed Spark was Jack's first Pokémon and had known the human longer than any of us. Before Spark got the bad influence from Night I assumed that he was a very loyal and stern Pokémon that never wandered around the gray area of choices. In fact, as Jack spoke it appeared that he was talking mostly to Spark. I felt bad for the Pikachu, but he needed this.

Night on the other hand was completely ignoring our trainer and was doing his best to let Jack know it. The arrogant Umbreon kept rolling his eyes and frowning at various points as Jack talked. He was avoiding eye contact, not just with Jack but with everyone else as well ... he was acting like a child.

Jack, not being the stupidest human ever, caught this quickly and attacked it "Night, can you at least look at me when I'm talking to you?"

Night groaned glared at Jack "What do you want _goth_?"

"I can't understand you but I can hear your tone, I'm trying to look out for you and make sure you and Spark don't get hurt." said Jack standing up "I want to challenge the gym leader today, so I want to make sure that we're all squared away. Maybe doing something will keep your mind off of Dusk."

My thoughts went to Jack's words, he thought we could pose a threat to the gym leader? Not only did we have no type advantages and no training in the last few days we weren't mentally or physically focused. Night and Spark just got their faces mashed by some mystery Pokémon that they couldn't take in a fight, I wasn't used to fighting under Jack seeing I'd only fought with him once, and Jack himself seemed a little disjointed still off ever since Dusk had disappeared. Not to mention that the Vermilion gym leader had destroyed Desmond a day before. If we faced the gym leader we'd be killed.

Jack ran his hands through his reddish dyed hair and sighed "Alright guys... I know everyone's freaking out a little bit and I'm sorry if I'm a little stressed out. Let's just all relax for an hour or two and then we'll all go the gym, cool?"

The three of us nodded with degrees of interest varying from Spark to Night and Jack was more that pleased with it.

"Good." he spoke putting his hands in "I'm going to talk with Des, I'll see you guys in an hour."

* * *

Ferne's point of view

* * *

"Okay Ferne, you've been given the all clear!" spoke the peppy voice of a nurse "Your shoulder was in bad shape, it might be a little stiff so no strenuous activity."

Leaning back on a wall I nodded "Yeah , yeah sure." I eyed the Chansey assistant "Be sure to express my thanks to the nurse."

"Thank you for all of the assistance Nurse." spoke Desmond as he shook the human's hand "I'll make sure she doesn't do anything too crazy before her shoulder is back in shape."

Not interested in the least by medical talk or advice I found myself glaring down at my wrist, or more importantly, the scar that marked where my wrist blades would come out. Those weapons marked the date where I took my life into my own hands and stopped feeling sorry for myself. When I decided to not curse my circumstance and instead use it to make me stronger. I could still remember looking up at my master for the first time...

"Ferne." spoke Desmond, snapping me out of my thoughts "I'm going to see if any progress on finding Dusk has been made, okay? Try to stay off that leg as much as you can. I don't want you getting hurt again."

I nodded fully intending not to hurt myself again and started to think about the buisness at hand, Dusk was missing. Earlier I heard Ruby yelling and cursing about how Night knew something would happen to Dusk and didn't tell anyone. Not wanting to get my information second-hand I made it my mission to see what he knew and if I could help.

Waving a curt goodbye to my trainer I left the room I had spent the last day or so in and made my way to the main part of the Pokemon center. If Night was still in the building, that was where I was going to find him. Entering the opening room of the Pokemon Center I quickly spotted Night and swiftly walked over to him.

"Hey, Night!" I yelled as I approached him. Something about the Umbreon seemed off, like he wasn't himself.

"Oh Ferne..." replied the dark-type distantly while eyeing his trainer "It's... nice to see you again."

Not happy that he wasn't paying attention to me I tapped him on the shoulder "Night, hello?"

The Umbreon shook his head "Sorry, I'm happy that you're back on your feet though. How's your shoulder?"

I wasn't in the mood for small talk "Night, Ruby told me that you might know who took Dusk."

Night's expression went from nonchalant to serious instantly. His eyes widened and his shoulders relaxed "What? You're here to yell at me too?"

"No, I'm sure Ruby has done that. I'm here to find out who did this and if I can help and any way." I sighed "I promise."

Night groaned and leaned on a wall before looking down at his feet in silence. He sniffed and looked back up at me "I messed up Ferne. I messed up really bad."

"Night just chill out."

"I messed up so bad Ferne and now Dusk is gone." he said again.

Feeling a little sorry for him I tried to calm him "Night, it's gonna be okay."

"Don't talk to me like a child, it's not okay." he sighed "And it's my fault."

"Night." I said with strength before cupping his face into my paws "I know things are looking a little tough right now and I know that a lot of people are going to blame you... but you need to focus alright. I can help you, but you need to help me and tell me what you know." I still liked Night as I person and I could understand is situation. He felt like the world was on his shoulders and that he deserved it. But he didn't deserve it, he was a good Pokemon and I wanted to make sure that he knew that "Yeah, you messed up. But if you tell me some information I might be able to get you through it."

Night looked at me with his blood red eyes and sighed "All I know is that Napoleon and Scarlet have something to do with it."

I smiled "Good, but how do you know that?"

He pulled his head out of my grasp "I can't tell you that, you're just gonna have to trust me."

I nodded "I believe you... thank for telling me."

"No prob, good luck. I'd help you if I could but I'm going with Jack to challenge the gym leader." replied Night "I feel like we're going to get our asses kicked."

I shrugged "I wouldn't think about it, things could get much worse."

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

_"I can't say I'm proud of you Scarlet." spoke the dark void of a voice of Darkrai. He glared down at me with his sapphire eyes and I felt a hint of disgust in them, he didn't like the sight of me._

_Falling onto my back I looked around the landscape and saw that I was in a field of sorts. Dead grass went on for miles in every __direction and strong wind blew pieces of debris through the foggy air. Over my head was a large and ominous violet moon surrounded by a pitch black sky. I was certain I was in a dream, but I wasn't about to ask Darkrai any questions._

_"You're friend has taken my daughter... and he's done it without hurting her." said the devilish figure before me "I would have been more impressed if you had done the act yourself though, but I can't expect that from a spoiled , pompous princess like yourself."_

_"I-"_

_"You don't talk girl, I do." interrupted Darkrai jabbing a pointed finger in my face "This may be the last time we get to talk though, I have a feeling you're going to face a deadly trial soon."_

_"What?" I asked with fear fresh on my breath "But-" _

_"I will assist you, if you allow me to. You have to let your inner self out Ponyta. Your father, he is an Umbreon. He is a pure dark type and with that comes the blessing of me. I am the source of all dark matter and I am the enemy of the light. You, a fire type, emit light. Therefore I should hate you, but I'm not sure if I do."_

_Building up some courage I gulped down my terror and asked "Darkrai... why do you waste your time talking with me if you're just going to make me dislike you more?"_

_For a split second I saw a hot anger in in eyes and I was certain he was going to kill me. My heartbeat spiked and the world around me pulsed with my chest as Darkrai leaned down and leveled his heartless gaze at me. The brace around his neck tightened and the white smoke coming off his head billowed with anger._

_"I admire your heart... not to many Pokemon would dare speak to **me **like that." his voice slid out of his body like smoke from a fire "You should wake up now Scarlet... you have a visitor."_

I opened my eyes in shock and gave a very loud moan. Never before had I been so happy to realize that I was in my bed, I was even fine with the fact that I was sweating like a mutt. Breathing hard I rolled onto my side and looked down at my drenched pillow.

_'It's fine Scarlet old girl, it was just a dream.' _I told myself '_'Now get out of bed and get along with your day.'_

Pulling myself out of bed I glanced over at a clock and snore quietly. It was past noon and I had taken more than just a little late morning rest. After Razor left I couldn't think of anything to do with myself and let myself drift back into sleep. That's what my life had evolved into ever since I was contracted to capture that Purrloin... wake up, eat, sleep, and wait. The wondrous life of a rich heiress in Vermilion city.

Escaping my chamber room I made my way to my living room and sighed, I guess it was time for that waiting part.

I was one controlled drop away from sitting on my fainting couch, but something seemed off. The heat in the room wasn't right almost like there was another being in the room. Not wanting to have a deja-vu moment from when that Pikachu and Meowth sneaked up on me I yelled out "If someone's in here it would be best for you to show yourself. I promise not to press charges if you do!"

"Scarlet the Ponyta." spoke a quietly angry voice from behind me that made me jump. Turning my head I wanted to scream, but my fear silenced my lungs. A few feet away from me was a clothed black Vulpix eyeing me with sinister brown eyes. His six tails were flared up behind him and hot steam was coming from his nose "You've committed sins against your own kind, and it's time to atone for them."

Stumbling to get away from him I shuddered "Wh-what do you mean?" I tried my best to play ignorant.

He took a step towards me and let loose a small growl "Don't play stupid... you're a bane on the world. You give money to Team Rocket and Team Galactic, you let Pokemon get hurt and killed and don't care." his frown grew deep "You are the reason some Pokemon can't sleep at night and now..." a sickening blade came out of his wrist "You are going to pay the ultimate price."

* * *

Ferne's point of view

* * *

"Um... so how do you know Scarlet again Ms..."

"Ferne." I said now a little annoyed. You couldn't blame me though if you knew the situation. After my little pow-wow with Night I used my professional grade stealth abilities to escape the Pokemon Center without anyone knowing. Then I had to back track to the hotel that we were actually staying at (even though my group had spend much more time at the Pokemon Center) and went across the street, hoping that Scarlet lived there and wasn't just visiting someone. Not wanting to be rude or attract any unwanted attention like a certain Umbreon I approached the Skitty that was at the reception desk and had asked him if I could go to see Scarlet. Long story short, he seemed hell bend on not letting me in.

"And she's a friend of a friend." I spoke with a sigh.

The cat nodded "And who is this friend."

"Napoleon." I replied quickly.

"Napoleon who?" asked the Skitty in the most pretentious way possible.

Starting to lose my temper I used my not so happy voice "Who do you freaking think? Napoleon the Snivy. Now can I got see Scarlet or what, I need to have a _very _important conversation with her. Now." I added that last part to make sure I was getting my point across.

Figuratively stepping down the Skitty nodded "Very well, you may see her. She is on the top floor, only room. She is very busy so don't be offended. She tends to stay away from the common riff-raff."

With my feminine grace I let that last comment slide and put my best faux smile on my face "Thank you, have a nice day." and with that I made my way to the elevator just a few steps away.

As I was going up I couldn't help but feeling out of place. I was a scruffy looking Leafeon wearing a tattered red bandanna around my neck that was walking around with a limp because of my bad shoulder. I didn't even belong in the elevator I was in. Every possible surface was the cleanest looking thing I had ever seen in my life and music that could be played in orchestras was being emitted from seemingly invisible speakers. Spotting me in this swanky establishment would be easier that spotting a needle on a piece of paper and as the elevator opened on the top floor I recognized I would have to be careful with how I approached my Ponyta target.

In front of me was a semi-long hallway with an ornate door at the end. Knowing who it must be I walked over and calmly knocked on the door. No response. Groaning I knocked again and added a little "Hello." at the end. Once again, no response... but I did hear something on the other side of the door. Stumbling, and a little tussle. Once again I knocked "Hello, is something wrong?".

There was a long silence, at least half a minute passed before I heard a female voice scream "Someone **Help!**".

It was time to jump into action. With the flick of a wrist my trusty blade was unsheathed and with purpose I stuck it into the lock.

"Help! Please!" screamed the voice again, more worried and scared than before. A little nervous myself now I forced my blade deeper into the keyhole.

_"Come on..."_ I said quietly _"Open you son of a-"_

A very audible *click* sounded and within an instant I opened the door and barged in. Looking around I was absolutely dumbfounded by what I saw. Scarlet was on the ground in some kind of nightgown with tears flowing down her face. Standing on top of her was a Pokemon that I considered to be a friend but in seemed like anything but at the moment. A blade was extending from his wrist and was inches away from Scarlet's throat. Had I been even seconds late I might have walked in on a different scene.

"Black..." my voice was quiet "What are you doing?"

The Vulpix glared at me and I saw the look in his eyes. There was such anger behind them, like he was a different person."This isn't your problem Jane, I'm just cleansing the world of a terrible person."

"Please!" cried Scarlet with hot tears rolling down her face "He's going to kill me I just-"

Black put the blade closer to her neck "Silence... Jane just leave, now."

Not backing down and not wanting Black to kill the girl I pointed my blade at him "Black let her go, no one has to die. Let's just talk this out."

"No one has to die?" asked Black now focusing completely on me "No one has to die? You tell that to the hundreds of Pokemon that died in the Asylum. You tell that to the Pokemon that have lost their lives fighting against the tyranny of Team Rocket and Team Galactic. This Ponyta's direct actions led to the fullfillment of the Asylum. She was giving them money and she knew the kind of horrors that were going on in that place. No on has to die Jane? Good Pokemon already have because of her..." the vulpine leered down at Scarlet "I'm just returning the favor."

"You're not killing her Black." I said again before tackling him off of the terrified heiress "Not as long as I have a say."

Black regained his balance and stared at me with his brown eyes "So you're with them now Jane..." he unsheathed his other wrist-blade "I can't say I'm not disappointed but if you want to defend her..." he breathed in "I can't stop you!"

With a defiant yell a plume of fire billowed out of the black Vulpix's mouth and headed right at me. Being part plant I made it a point not be get fire on me so I rolled out of the way and hoped that Scarlet either followed my lead or could take a flamethrower attack. Looking back at Scarlet I was glad to see her unharmed, it seemed like she could hustle when her life (or cloths) were on the line. Black knew that I would be his only real threat, so he charged at me.

I ducked under Black's sloppy attack and sidestepped another. Raising a paw to block the third strike I locked eyes with my new opponent and I saw intense pain in his eyes. When I last saw him in Cerulean city there was hope in them, life, and the will to do the right thing. But now, something was off... it was like they were clouded. He was so much angrier now, and had so much more passion even if it was misdirected.

"This doesn't have to happen Black." I said, still trying to convince an old friend "We can talk this through."

"If you think we can talk it through, then you have no idea what's going on Jane." he replied in a rough voice.

Before I could reply I saw him breath in deeply. I couldn't roll away fast enough and the fire blast hit my shoulder... my already bad shoulder... the one that had been dislocated by that freak of nature Voltorb. I slid across the smooth granite floor of Scarlet's penthouse, only to bump my head on some stupid looking couch.

Standing up as quick as I could I looked over to Scarlet "It would be great if you could help me here." I said very unhappy with how bad I would limp now.

"Um... sure dear." replied the Ponyta quietly without taking her gaze off of Black. I couldn't imagine the fear Scarlet was going through at that moment. She was just in her house, minding her own business when a half-crazy black Vulpix with knifes sticking out of his wrists tries to kill her... I was impressed that she had the guts to reply to me.

Black didn't give us girls too much time to talk as he swung at me again, still very sloppy and wild. But just because an attack with a blade is sloppy, it can still be dangerous. I shuffled to the side as the knife stuck itself in the couch I had bumped my head on. Seeing my chance I kicked the Vulpix in the ribs with all the power I could as I lost my balance.

This time I got to my feet before Black could and was ready to strike, until a plume of fire steamed past my head and collided with Black head on. He gave a yell as he fell to the ground again.

"Nice one, now let me finish this." I was impressed that Scarlet could muster an attack like that, but I didn't have time to thank her more. Rushing over to the downed fox I pointed a blade at his neck before he could stand "Give it up Black, it's over."

Still looking incredibly angry Black snarled at me "You don't get it Jane, this wasn't your fight. She deserves worse than death for the crimes she's committed." he proceeded to kick me in the gut and roll away "I'm leaving, but I'll be back Scarlet." spoke Black in a voice that scared me a little "And next time you won't have any protection." and before I could react Black released a thick smokescreen attack and vanished.

After everything was done I turned to face a terrified Scarlet and gave s reassuring smile "Well, I think we need to have a talk."


	80. Benign Corruption: Phase one

Another chapter goes up, and my excitement goes up. We're getting closer to the Vermilion climax and characters that have been seen before will be making true appearances. Once again I want to thank you guys for reading this. If you are on this chapter that means that you've read 80 of these... so hats off to you lads and lasses.

Any who, a question again that builds off of the results of another. It seems that everyone and their mother hates Claire, which I understand. My question is, what past life do you think made Claire into the Pikachu she is now?

Okay, on to chapie 80!

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

"I... I don't know what to say."

The Leafeon that had saved my life smiled "Well, a thank you would be a good place to start, but I'd understand if you're a little on edge."

I let my tensed up body relax and started to process everything that had happened to me in the past several minutes. I had been attacked in my own home by a sinister looking Vulpix that appeared to have the intent to murder me. He wanted to kill me... he was going to take my life because he knew about the Asylum and what the money my family was giving Team Galactic was doing. My emotional state of self-depravation was in no mood to stop and I kept telling myself that, once again, this was all my fault for not listening to Napoleon. Napoleon warned me about this, that people and Pokemon knew where I lived and that when everything imploded and the ones I hurt got angry I was going to be the number one target.

"Hey." spoke the Leafeon softly "Are you hurt, did he injure you at all?"

Looking down at my feet I shook my head "No, I'm fine ... thanks to you." Still looking down I started to fiddle with my nightgown before asking "You seemed to know that Pokemon, who was he?"

"I could tell you if you talked to me face to face, as opposed to face to ground." replied the Leafeon with a chuckle. Despite the situation and that she was just in what could have been a fatal fight my savior didn't seem shaken up at all. I concluded that she must've been in other circumstances where her life was in peril and had gotten used to it.

I looked up with a pitiful look on my face. I was still scared out of my mind, but was trying my best not to show it. This is when I first got a really good look at the Leafeon that had saved my life. She had a rugged, tomboyish look about her. She wasn't beautiful, not at all, but she was far from ugly and maybe even a little cute. She had sharp brown eyes and fur that could look much better if she brushed it. Clumps of uneven hair riddled her body and a mangy red crudely tied bandanna hung from her neck in a triangle shape.

She noticed me looking at her, inspecting her, and raised a brow "What... not what you expected?"

Not wanting to offend her I shook my head again "No, no... it's not like that. I... I just... why were you just outside my door? Did you know I was going to be attacked?" I asked in the least accusatory way I could.

"Not at all, I was just coming over to ask you a few questions and I heard the commotion through the door and... well you know the rest." responed the Leafeon before she seemed to realize something "I'm sorry, I haven't told you my name yet."

"Didn't that Vulpix call you Jane?" I questioned.

The Leafeon rolled her eyes "Yeah, but that's not my name. Call me Ferne. And your attacker... he's an old acquaintance of mine going through a rough patch in his life." she paused "But there is a reason I'm here, I need to discus something with you."

I gave a weak smile "Okay, you did just save me... so you can ask me whatever you-"

"Yesterday night a Purrloin went missing." bluntly spoke Ferne "I have a reliable source that says that you and Napoleon have something to do with it. From what Black was saying I see that you had money going into Team Galactic's asylum and had close contact with them. Tell me what you know about this missing Purrloin and if it has anything to do with her being in the asylum."

My heart dropped as the question came out, this wasn't supposed to happen. How would someone know that Napoleon and I were in on this and how would they know within a day about who had taken the Purrloin. I wanted to avoid the question, and I did my best to try "Yes... my family did give Team Galactic money to go to the asylum, but I was under the understanding that it was a clinic for Pokemon. You know, a place where they could get help but after seeing some reports a few weeks ago... I had to withdraw my investment." I looked at Ferne with emotion "If I knew what was going on in that place a swear I would have asked my mother to not give them money."

Ferne didn't seem impressed "You still aren't answering my question... what do you know about the Purrloin that was taken?"

"I...I..." my nerves were starting to get the best of me "I'm not really sure..."

"Scarlet." said Ferne in a soft tone as she put a paw on my shoulder "If you are in danger, I promise that I can help you. But I can't do anything to help if you don't tell me."

She seemed to kind and desperate to help me and in my terrified state of mind I was willing to accept any kind of assistance from anyone "It's my fault... don't blame Napoleon, he's just trying to protect_ me_."

"What?" asked Ferne.

Gritting my teeth I started to spilled my guts "I... I used to be an informant for Team Rocket and Team Galactic. I would find information about one and then give it to the other for monetary compensation."

"Payment..." spoke Ferne.

I nodded "I did this for months, I was sure that both teams wouldn't see what was going on and I was intent on doing it for a living. But a couple of days ago I got a visit from representatives from both Galactic and Rocket. They were armed and had be bring Napoleon to them. They then told us that they were interested in retreving something from a Purrloin that had escaped the asylum and that they would let me live if Napoleon and I could get that Purrloin."

"So you abducted Dusk." said Ferne. I looked at her in confusion before she replied "The Purrloin's name... okay then." The Leafeon sighed and looked out to my balcony "Anything else?"

"That's all I know, I didn't even know that Napoleon had taken Dusk before a few minutes ago. By the way, how did you get into the building if you don't live here?" I asked her.

She looked back at me "I said I knew Napoleon."

"And do you?"

"I did once..." she responded distantly "We used to date... anyway you should get down to the lobby, anyone who wants to hurt you wouldn't dare try to attack you in an open place. The minute you can get in contact with Napoleon ask him to take care of you. You can't be alone anymore, understand?"

I nodded.

"Good, now I'm assuming that you don't want Dusk to be kept captive right?"

"Yes... I don't want to cause her anymore pain." I replied.

"Then when you can get in contact with me or have Napoleon do it. I'll either be in the Pokemon center near the main city entrance, or I'll be in the hotel across the street." said Ferne "You can trust me and I'll do my best to make sure everyone gets out of this."

Finally feeling like I had an ally besides Napoleon I smiled "Thank you Ferne."

She nodded and smirked "Don't mention it, now get down to the lobby and see if you can get in contact with Napoleon."

* * *

Dusk's point of view

* * *

I opened my eyes to the sound of Claire's voice ringing in my ears "Time to wake up Purrloin... nappy time is over."

Still tied up to a wall my muscles were more than sore and my body felt weak. I had been propped up with my arms above my head for at least twelve hours at that point and comfort was out of the question.

I felt a hand under my chin lift my face up and I'll tell you right now that seeing an insane looking Pikachu giving you a toothy grin is not something that you want to see after a nap "Well, you look well rested. I'd love to let you keep sleeping but..." she looked behind her "We need to get started."

"Started on what... Claire?" I said remembering one of her rules. I wanted to make it a priority not to make her angry.

"The fun!" replied the Pikachu sarcastically.

"Stop messing with her Claire." spoke Napoleon as he walked into my view. The Snivy then glanced at me "Alright Dawn, what I'm about to do to you is going to hurt and you are going to be very uncomfortable. But if nothing goes wrong we can be done with this before the day is over, alright."

I di_dn't feel like correcting Napoleon on my name, he could call me Dawn if he wanted to. In fact, hearing that name again made me feel safer and not as scared._

_"N_ow I'm going to unlock your chains Purrloin and guide you to where you need to go. If you try to run away, or make any sudden movements... let's just say it won't be very pleasant for you, get it?" said Claire as she whipped out a key "Now hold still."

Within a second my arms were free and fell into my lap like limp noodles. I hadn't used them since the night before, so it was no surprise to me that they had become weaker.

"Here, let me help you." said Napoleon before he placed a hand on my back. With a soothing, but firm grip the Snivy helped me get to my wobbly feet. I wasn't sure how a felt about Napoleon, he obviously didn't want to take me or keep me captive there and was trying his best to keep me comfortable... but at the same time he was doing this to protect someone... someone that had done something wrong.

He guided me to a normal sized table, meaning that it was over my head. Behind the table was a fairly large machine, about the size of a refrigerator. It had multiple buttons and lights on it. No doubt it was going to do something to me, but in my weakened state I couldn't do anything.

"Up on the table cat." spoke Claire in an annoyed tone "Let's get this started already."

With a helpful nudge from Napoleon I found myself on the hard surface of the metal table and laid flat on my back. I could feel my heart beating in my chest as my paws clenched up. Something was about to happen and I was in no hurry to find out.

"Now hold still Dawn." spoke the voice of White as footsteps before pulling out a long needle. My already rapid heartbeat increased and I closed my eyes tightly as the Meowth said "This won't hurt much."

* * *

Ruby's point of view

* * *

_'Night you idiot, I can't believe how stupid you are... and I can't believe how much I'm worried about that stupid Purrloin.' _I had a mental pause _'After all she's done, all the Pokemon she hurt... how can I feel so scared for her.'_

I was certain that I was losing myself and I felt like I couldn't talk to anyone. It had been a few minutes since Jack and his boys left the Pokemon center to challenge the gym leader and I was alone as ever. Razor was acting dumb, there was no way I was letting Crystal talk to me and Jolt and Vapor were making kissy faces in a corner.

But it was good that I was alone, my temper was seething at the situation and at any moment it was going to blow. Little did I know that I would get a grea chance to erupt just seconds later.

"Ruby, I think we need to talk." spoke a voice that I was **not **in the mood to hear.

Gritting my teeth I looked at the speaker with hate in my eyes "What do you want Crystal?" My voice was sharp and devoid of kindness, I was out of patience and wasn't going to feign liking the Glaceon.

No matter how much I disliked her, I knew that Crystal wasn't stupid and caught on to my bad mood before she responded "I know that I'm the last person you want to see now and that we haven't been the best of friends... but I do know that we share a trainer and we share a common interest- "

Before she could finish I laughed "We share an interest? And what would that be?"

"We both want to know what happened to Dusk," spoke Crystal, her voice getting more serious "And take down whoever or whatever took her."

I couldn't help but smile, this was right up my alley. "Alright, I'm listening."

The Glaceon nodded and leaned on the wall next to me "I know that Dusk was in the Asylum and escaped with you and your friends, Dexter told me all about it. I also know that Team Galactic doesn't let things like that slid and is going to strike back in some way."

"And you think they kidnapped Dusk?" I asked, hoping I was right.

"Yes... but I can't help but think there's something else going on here... something bigger. If Team Galactic really wanted to send a message they would have gone after Night. Why take Dusk and only Dusk if you wanted to get revenge for the Asylum?" she looked around "I think something bad is going on here and we're going to be in the middle of it. When Dexter get's back from the gym leader I'm going to talk to him about it and see if he knows anything I don't."

She paused for a second "And Ruby..."

"Yeah." I replied

"I'm sorry I called you a bitch before, it was out of line." she gave a smile "Really."

"It's alright," I replied before smirking "Now let's see if you're right about this. 'Cus if you are it might be a lot of fun."


	81. Benign Corruption: Psychic Resurgence

OKay guys, I am SUPER sorry for how long it took me to get this chapter done. It's really a combination of school starting and laziness. Really sorry you guys had to wait a month for a kinda not long chapter. :(

Now question this time (I know 0-O) just trying to get back in the swing of regular updates.

Once again I'm really sorry.

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

"Well guys... it's time for our turn." spoke my trainer. We all stood outside of our Pokeballs and were glaring at the very intimidating Vermilion gym. The memory of Ferne getting destroyed by that Voltorb was still fresh in my mind. I wasn't sure how strong Ferne was exactly , but I was sure that she was **much** stronger than me and if she lost than I was sure I had no hope. But, fueled with my unwarranted arrogance I aptly shrugged off my very realistic feelings of apprehension and fear and nudged Spark "Do you think you're ready for this?"

The Pikachu crossed his arms and with a slight frown on his face replied "I'll find out in a second. How about you Dexter?"

The blue eyed Espeon sighed "I'm not prepared. Not at all. I've fought with Jack maybe one or two times and we still have to learn how to coordinate." replied the Espeon from his pessimistic point of view "If we're going to win today Spark is going to have to to most of the work."

Taking that as a slight insult I frowned "Why not me? Am I not strong enough or something?"

Dexter shook his head and without looking at me responded "No. Night I think you're plenty strong, but so is Jolt and he lost. You are in a bad mood, and arrogant mood. It's not your fault, I'd be in a bad mood if I were you. Personally I think we've already lost this fight because of Jack." he looked up at the goth "He thinks he can just go in here and get this gym battle over with. He hasn't trained with us since Cerulean and he hasn't implemented any strategy deeper than 'hit them harder next time'."

I shrugged off Dexter's comments "Whatever Dex, the only way to tell if we're going to win is to try for it."

With us at his side, Jack entered the gym to a fairly packed room with the stands on either side of the battle arena were brimming with people wanting to see a battle. The moment they caught sight of us a few scattered cheers and claps introduced us to the building and prepared us for the fight ahead. The room itself gleamed of cleanliness and order, it was clear that the gym leader was a man that didn't veer from the path of perfection.

"You're back!" yelled a man that I didn't notice before. I remembered him as the gym leader, Lt. Surge. His military fatigues were still as pristine as ever and he still wore his jet black sunglasses covering his eyes. His muscular arms were behind his back and a smile was on his face "You're one of Desmond's friends from yesterday!"

Jack took a step forward and nodded "Yep, I'm Jack and I'm here to challenge you to a-"

"You didn't wash that red junk out of your hair though..." said Surge with resentment "But I guess that's alright." His hand came out from behind his back to reveal a Poke-ball in is right hand "It won't make the battle unfair... I guess you'll be using the Pokemon I see with you right solider?"

My trainer nodded with determination "Of course."

"You also do know that in official Pokemon league rules it states that I must use four Pokemon, regardless of how many Pokemon any challenger has?" asked the Gym leader.

From the look of shock on Jack's face I assumed he didn't. So now not only would we have to beat the Pokemon that brought Jolt and Ferne to school we would have to do it with less Pokemon.

"Anyway... I should tell you the rules, just in case you aren't familiar with them Jack." spoke Surge "You may use up to four Pokemon agaist me and may switch them out at anytime. I don't get that advantage, but I don't think I'll need it." He was sure he could beat us and wasn't afraid to let us know. "There is no out of bounds in this fight... so our Pokemon will fight until one is defeated or surrenders... is that clear?"

I saw Jack make a fist "Crystal."

Surge smiled "Excellent, then I'll send out my first soldier." he threw the Poke-ball in his hand "Private first class Electabuzz, it's time to serve soldier!"

From the red light of the Pokeball materialized the electric type. He stood with his arms crossed and a confident smile on his face that I was eager to wipe off.

"Night... can you help me out here buddy?" asked Jack with a smile. Looking up to him I nodded and stepped into the arena to face my newest foe.

"Is the challenger ready?" asked a battle ref to the side. Jack nodded.

"Is the gym leader ready?" Surge gave a quick salute.

"Then let the battle begin!"

"Night start off with a shadow ball, show him what you can do!" shouted Jack with excitement.

I was happy to and started to form my dark energy into my favorite little ball of death. I didn't expect the Electabuzz to just let my attack him, so I made a mental note to be ready for some sort of attack.

My assumption came true when Surge made his first move "Private- start off with attack pattern c."

_'Attack pattern...' _I thought _'What the hell is that?' _I didn't know what is was, but I knew that it was something I wasn't going to like. I sent my shadow blob towards my enemy prematurely. I was willing to get off a weak attack rather than take my chances at charging it to full power. The ghost type attack charged at the Electabuzz , but my opponent ducked under my poorly executed attack and continued to run at me.

"Night, dodge now!" yelled Jack with fear. Neither of us knew what this attack pattern c was, so I had no idea what to expect. I followed my instinct and judged that he was going to do a physical attack, so I rolled off to the side and expected him to miss. But that's not what happened. With a war-like scream a flash of electricity erupted from the Electabuzz's body and hit me like a train. I felt all of my muscles tense up as the familiar feeling of paralysis came over my body.

I fell to the ground in pain and looked up to my enemy who wore a smirk on his face "What's wrong Umbreon? Did that hurt?"

"Night, counter-attack go!" yelled Jack.

With my trainer's words backing me up I tried my luck with a feint attack. Running at the "private" I clawed at him, but before I could hit him I stopped myself and did a quick roll to get him off balanced. Then with me in charge of the battle I stopped rolling, planted my feet, and headbutted the Electabuzz straight in the gut. The moment my head connected with the Electabuzz muscles locked up for the second time as my enemy fell to the ground.

"Good hit Night, now put some space between you and him and try another shadow ball!"

With me on my feet and the Electabuzz currently not I had all the time I needed to charge up my shadow ball. As my focus turned into usable dark energy in front of my eyes I could feel things going my way. Maybe we would be able to take this gym on and win. As the crowd cheered me on I couldn't help but smirk as I launched the shadow ball at my currently standing up opponent thinking that I could end the battle right there.

But of course things never go the way I want them to.

For one thing, I underestimated how fast the Electabuzz could move when prompted to. Surge commanded it to dodge and it dodged my seemingly perfect attack without breaking a sweat. On top of that I heard the gym leader shout some attack plan again and had no idea what was coming at me.

"Night." spoke Jack trying to keep his cool "Stay quick on your feet, whatever comes at you you need to be able to dodge it."

Almost imminently the Electabuzz charged at me with a war yell that shook me to my core. I still felt the lingering effects of the discharge attack, but mostly had accurate control over my bodily movements. I saw the electric type wind up a fist and took a wild guess on what he was aiming at and ducked. My intuition was proved right when I felt I gust of wind over my head. With my enemy wide open to attack I thrust my head into his chest to stagger him back. But, he was stronger than that and barley reacted to my hit. Not very happy with my failed attempt to harm him the Electabuzz grabbed me by my ears and pulled my face up.

"Sorry about this Umbreon... nothing personal." was what he said before pounding his fist into my gut with bone shattering force. Counting my lucky stars that he didn't break any ribs I was rewarded by a solid slug in the face.

I staggered back and tried my best to regain my balance when I heard Jack blurt out "Night watch out!"

I turned my head to the Electabuzz and was hit by a crushing punch to the face that felt like a train hitting me. I don't even think I was able to stay conscious long enough to hit the ground.

* * *

Dexter's point of view

* * *

Even though I thought that Night was going to lose his battle, watching him get punched like that didn't make me feel better. From the looks of it he had been knocked out instantly by that focus punch as when he hit the ground I saw Jack's face tighten. He knew that he had but Night in that situation, and that he was in pain partly because of him.

Letting his frown slowly turn into a smile he took out Night's poke-ball "Good job Night, you did your best buddy."

"The challenger's Umbreon has been defeated, the challenger now may only use three more Pokemon." spoke the battle referee reminding all of us that we were now losing this battle.

I sighed, understanding that I was most likely going to be Jack's next choice. Like I had told the currently unconscious I was not Umbreon that I just been returned to his Poke-ball, I was not prepared for a gym battle. But I had a stupid affinity towards lying so when Jack knelt down next to me I got ready to fib.

"Dex... do you think you'll be able to handle two opponents? I only have you and Spark left, and that means that both of you will need to get at least two knock outs. I don't want to send either of you in there If you aren't ready for an uphill battle. We don't need to win this time, but I'd really appreciate it if you could try." said Jack with a child's smile "Are you with me Dexter?"

For a human that I barley knew Jack did have a place in my cold, misused husk of a heart. He cared for me and his other Pokemon and wanted us to be safe. But at the same time he loved to win and see us get stronger. I had been in worse battle with worse odds, so for the second time in that week I threw logic to the win and nodded "Of course I am."

My trainer was gleeful as he stood back up and point "Alright then, Dexter show them what you can do!"

Not seeing the point of yelling I quietly stepped into the arena as the crowd cheer me on. They had no way of knowing it, but I had already charged up a powerful psychic attack a long time ago and was just waiting for the ref to give the all set. I didn't think I could beat four Pokemon, but I would beat at least one.

"Is the challenger ready?" spoke the ref.

"Yep." responded Jack, his fingers fidgeting at his side.

"Then let the battle continue!" shouted the referee. And with that it was my time to shine.

Surge pointed at me and shouted "Alright Private, don't give that Espeon any breathing room. Charge at him, top speed!"

"Dexter, be ready to dodge it!" commanded Jack from behind me. I nodded even though I had no intention of listening. This was my chance to drop this Electabuzz in one hit. With him running at me when my psychic attack hit... it would do much more damage. Dust around me started to rise as I continued to build up power for my heart stopper. The crowd continued to cheer and when the Electabuzz was within my attack range, I unleashed my power.

Like a gust of wind the strongest attack I could muster tore through the air and into the gut of my foe. Dirt filled the air and swirled around the pure psychic energy, even the lights in the gym flashed as the power grid reacted . The direct hit caused the entire gym to fall silent as the Electabuzz hit the ground, knocked out the instant my attack had hit him.

"What the..." spoke Surge in a quiet tone, his glasses torn from his face with the might of my attack.

"Oh my gosh..." gasped Jack, hardly able to keep himself together "Dexter, what the hell was that?"

Soon the crowd had let what had happened sink in and the cheering picked up again. Yes my enemy had already been injured by Night, but I was certain that not too many challengers could take down a gym leader's Pokemon that fast and with that much efficiency. Was I proud... of course I was but the battle was far from over.

In fact, it was just getting started.


	82. Benign Corruption: The Tests

And the Chronicles go on and the plot thickens. I didn't want to have the gym battle be the only thing in this chapter, so I hope you enjoy the side narratives. Once again guys and gals, thanks for the reviews they really keep me going!

Anyhoodle, a question this time : Who is the single greatest threat to the safety of Night's group?

Hope you like it!

* * *

Dusk's point of view

* * *

The sun glare shined through the window and painted the warehouse of my despair. A range of depressing grays filled the room making my already cold body feel worse. My still form was lying on the chilled metal table the tests were being done on. IVs stuck out of both of my arms and lead to a processing machine of sorts next to me.

My brain pulsed in my head and stress coursed through my veins. The so called tests had been going on for over an hour and the whole time I felt like I was at deaths door. The machine was pumping out my blood and forcing it back in at a rate so fast I barely needed to use my heart. Once again I found myself feeling less that a Pokemon, feeling less that worthy to be alive.

"How long is this going to take?" ringed Claire's voice in my ears.

"Perhaps for the rest of the day and them most of tomorrow." spoke White, his stern but soft tone echoed through the warehouse of my discontent.

"Where's... where's Napoleon?" asked my raspy and horrifyingly weak voice, one that even surprised myself with how horrible I sounded.

"She's conscious for all of this?" asked the voice of Claire "That's pretty sucky, you couldn't knock her out for this White?"

I saw White's figure cross his arms "I could have, but the tests are more accurate when the target is awake, even if barely."

My mind began to wonder and I started to lose my already loose grip on reality. Visions danced across my face and the whole world started to spin. Whatever these tests were doing to my body I was sure I wouldn't be able to stand it much longer.

"Tell me where Napoleon is..." my voice was low, but I was being as forceful as I could.

"Shut up and stop worrying, your little Snivy friend is fine. He stepped out for a little bit and is coming back soon so don't freak." spoke the angry voice of Claire, "So if I were you I'd shut up and conserve energy before someone passes out."

* * *

Dexter's point of view

* * *

Confidence flooded my brain as the crowd cheered me on, but who wouldn't cheer after seeing the gym leaders Pokemon get downed in one hit. Trying as hard as I could to keep myself level headed I looked up at Jack and gave a nod.

Surge didn't seem fazed despite the fact that his Electabuzz had just been taken out. In fact, he looked almost excited and pleased. He wanted to have a challenging battle, he wanted to test our limits. A Poke-ball was unclipped from his waist and thrown in the air "Lieutenant, give this Espeon a good fight!"

The familiar red light emitted from the Poke-ball and started to form in front of me. The cheers of the crowd erupted again as a spunky Jolteon appeared in front of me. Jolteon's usually had spiky, almost sharp, fur... but for some reason this one seemed to have fur that was razor sharp. I wasn't intimidated, but I felt an air of respect between both of us.

"Is the challenger ready?" spoke the referee. Jack nodded and put a hand in his pocket.

"Is the gym leader ready?" Lt. Surge nodded.

"Then let the battle commence!"

"Lieutenant, attack plan beta. Go!" shouted Surge as he pointed at me.

_'These attack plans are going to be something to worry about.'_ My mind raced trying to figure out just what this attack plan beta was. I noticed almost instantly that the Jolteon's speed went up an alarming rate._ 'That must be agility... I'd better be cautious now.'_

My thoughts were stopped when said Jolteon dashed at me with blinding speeds. For split second I hesitated and got slightly scared and before I could blink I was smashed into with force that even surprised me. I staggered back and let loose a quick psychic wave to get some distance.

"Dexter, don't let this Jolteon run all over you." spoke Jack with a worried tone "She's faster than you, but I'm sure you're stronger. Use it to your advantage!"

He was right, there was no way I was going to beat this Jolteon by acting like I was faster. But Jack didn't know that Jolteon's also are well known for having ferocious electric attacks. I had just seen what I discharge attack could do to an Umbreon and I knew it would do the same thing to an Espeon.

"Dexter, charge at her!" yelled Jack "You can win this one buddy, so keep at it."

Fueled partly from the poorly worded, but well-intentioned encouragement from my trainer I ran at the Jolteon with full intent to do some damage. But I was reminded of my speed differential when my enemy easily jumped around me . I was being made into a fool, and I wasn't going to have it.

Seeing a chance to strike Jack smiled "Dex, grab her with a psychic."

Realizing my trainer's line of thought I caught the Jolteon off guard and grabbed her front legs with my invisible psychic energy. The crowd gasped collectively before I started to whirl the Jolteon around me in a circle. If I was going to win, I would have to disorient her. She started to scream, and I did feel bad, but I was sure she would jump on any opportunity to strike back at me.

"Take him Lt.!" shouted Surge with confidence. Suddenly I felt a blast of electricity hit me, and I seized up. Losing my focus I let the Jolteon get away from my grip. However, instead of just watching her fly through the air I felt myself get lifted up and fly through the air right behind her. That's when I realized what that electric blast was, she was bumping me full of positive electricity. Then when she went flying she charged herself with negative magnetic energy... we collided like magnets.

"Dexter!" yelled Jack as the crowd erupted with cheering again.

Shocked I felt myself hit the ground and tried my best to get to my feet. Looking around I saw the Jolteon already standing up only a few feet away and looking at me with a smirk.

"Jolteon... thunderbolt." spoke Surge "Go."

I didn't stand a chance of even attempting to dodge. Before I could even blink I felt my body light up in pain and my muscles tense up. I tried to scream, I tried to move... but my body wasn't responding. Everything went quiet as the electricity flowed through my body and out through my feet. I was losing, I might have already lost... but I wasn't about to just lay down and faint.

Surging with pride I scraped up any focus I could get and directed it at my enemy, while I was still being shocked. I didn't see what happened next, I blacked out. But the last thing I remember is hoping that Spark could pull of something special.

* * *

Spark's point of view

* * *

It's funny really. The first time I get to tell my share of the story is after Night and Dexter are taken out of play. If you don't know me... I don't know what to tell you. I'm Spark, you know who I am, and I hope I can help you understand my side of this chronicle.

The moment I saw the clash of psychic energy and electricity I knew that Dexter was going down, but not going down without a fight. A blinding flash filled the room and the crowd continued to gasp, cheer, and scream in a plethora of human sound. Jack was worried, and for good reason.

When the flash subsided, at first in appeared that Dexter had outright lost, as he was laying on the ground and the Jolteon was standing over him. But after a second or two the Jolteon's strength died out, and she collapsed to the floor making that battle a draw.

"Both the challenger's and the gym leader's Pokemon are not fit to continue. Both have two Pokemon left!" shouted the referee.

However, Jack knew he didn't have two Pokemon left. Dexter had done his job, he had beaten two opponents, and now I had to do mine. There was no doubt in my mind that Surge was saving his best Pokemon for last and I would have a tough fight ahead of me. But as Jack returned Dexter to his Poke-ball and congratulated him I felt confident, Jack had spent more time with me that Dexter and Night combined. Jack and I had been together for as long as I could remember and as far as I was concerned Jack had my back as much as I had his.

"Spark... I won't make you fight if you don't want to." rung Jack's voice in my ears. There was a fear in his voice, he didn't like seeing his Pokemon in pain and thought I was in trouble of losing too. But at the same time I could feel his love of the challenge, his love of the battle. I wasn't about to let down my trainer like that.

With a smile I shrugged "I'll give it a shot."

When Surge caught sight of me I saw him smirk slightly "So you're going to use your Pikachu kid? Good, I can tell you I've been waiting to challenge on of those for a long time." He reached for a Poke-ball "And so has this Pokemon- General, show these guys your stuff."

The crowd's excitement surged as a red light darted from a Poke-ball and started to take shape. From how the crowd reacted it was clear I was in for a fight I wouldn't be forgetting and as my opponent appeared mt assumption was proven correct.

_'Crap-' _I thought as I tightened my fist _'Of course it's a Raichu. What else would it have been.'_

My evolved form stood several feet away from me but even with that distance I could see that he was a few inches taller than me, and when you're 2 feet tall that's a big deal. His lean body was accented with what seemed to be very well toned muscles. Compared to me this Raichu was a monster and as his dark eyes met mine he smiled "A Pikachu... I haven't seen one of you in a long time!"

I gave a weak smile "Well, I hope I can keep up."

"Is the challenger ready?" shouted the ref once again. Jack nodded.

"And I'm all set." spoke Lt. Surge "Let's get this going."

"Then let the battle commence!"

* * *

Azelf's point of view

* * *

I felt like a fool and a deceiver as I glared down at Dusk's current situation. Time and time again I had told Night that I would help his group in any way I could, but time and time again I had proved to be disingenuous and foolhardy thinking I could or would bend the rules that Arceus had put into place. I was a pawn, a good one at that, and any good pawn knew it's place. Arceus, even in her injured state was still my leader and still my creator. She, and she alone was my compass… I just wasn't sure if I could rely on her to stay on the right path anymore.

Sounds of the Purrloin's quiet sobs hit my ear drums and I couldn't help but feeling a lump in my chest. _'I'm not doing the right thing… it can't be right to just watch this happen.'_

Once again the words Night said to me that night in Pewter city reverberated throughout my conscious **_I don't understand why she won't let us save her…_**

**_Why she won't let me save her…_**

My fists tightened, perhaps Celebi was right, and perhaps something else was going on with Arceus. Maybe she has something else going on and I was just being used.

I had to be sure, but in that moment I had to find a way to help Dusk without direct intervention. With Night and Dexter out of commission my priority went to Ruby. She had to be spoken with, if she was really this silver fox than I needed her on my side.

But even before Ruby I had one more thing to attend to…

A certain Ponyta needed my attention, and I was going to give it to her.


	83. Benign Corruption:Legendary Intervention

And another chapter goes in the record books. I've been trying to move the story on at a faster pace so I want at least one important thing to happen in each chapter.

This is more of a wide open question that I'll get more into later: Who has the strongest Pokemon team? Jack, Katherine, or Desmond?

Enjoy!

* * *

_Everything in my being was shouting at me, I knew in my heart in mind that I was doing the wrong thing. In the past I had always wondered why people broke the law, why they did such terrible things... but at that moment I was doing a terrible thing and I kept telling myself that I was helping Scarlet and it was acceptable._

__Napoleon- chapter 77

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

"What do you mean someone attacked you... who would do that!" I shouted with a mixture of annoyance and worry as my situation with Scarlet and the teams tumbled down into oblivion. My hands gripped her shoulder and I held her close as the sun worked it's way to dusk behind me.

Scarlet's penthouse looked like it had been through hell. Burn marks etched all over her marbled floors and the distinct smell of smoke filled the air and clouded my nose. It was clear that Scarlet had been in grave danger and that something far worse could have happened.

"Napoleon dear, you have to calm down. There's no need to stress over this. I'm fine now and that's what matters..." spoke Scarlet's voice as her attempt to soothe me went right over my head.

"Yeah, this time you're safe... what happened?"

The Ponyta sighed "I was attacked by this Pokemon... a black Pokemon."

"What can you tell me about it, was it male... female? Did it have anything that might make it stand out?" I tried my best to not interrogate her.

She sat there for a moment, just looking at the ground in thought. It was then that I realized just how calm she seemed, even though she had just been attacked in her own home. She was growing stronger and less afraid, and if she could have that kind of growth in a situation like this I needed to catch up with her.

"He was a black Vulpix." spoke Scarlet in a clear demeanor "With cloths on."

And with those words I severed a friendship with a Pokemon I had loved for years. My fists tightened instinctively and a deep frown was etched onto my face. Black had done this, Black had tried to kill Scarlet behind my back after I explicitly told him not to. I felt tears of anger and sorrow working their way to my eyes as I said "How... how did you beat Black by yourself?"

"So his name is Black, interesting." replied Scarlet.

"Scarlet stay on topic, how did you survive against an armed Pokemon?"

The Ponyta smiled "I didn't do it on my own, a Leafeon busted in without warning and saved me." she paused "I think her name was Ferne, but the Vulpix kept calling her Jane."

_'Jane...'_ Her name crossed my path again, except this time I was a little less depressed to hear her name. One of my ex-girlfriends had saved the life of my most current one... I would have to make sure Jane, or Ferne, knew that I was thankful.

Sighing I knew I had a lot of this to process, but there was still the pressing matter of getting back to the warehouse and making sure Dawn was still okay. I took both of my hands and cupped Scarlet's face in them "I'm really glad that you're okay, but it's too dangerous to let you stay here by yourself... at least for now."

"I understand darling, I don't want you spending your days worrying about me so-" she cut herself off and looked behind me in fear.

Understanding instantly I turned and ripped out my dagger to face the threat, but when I saw what the presence was I couldn't help feeling regret. It's understandably bad to make a terrible first impression on anyone.

It's basically a death sentence to make one with a legendary Pokemon, and Azelf was sure to remember our first meeting every time he saw my face .

* * *

Spark's point of view

* * *

"A Raichu... a little cliche huh Surge?" spoke Jack's voice with an obvious tone of fear in it.

"It's more of a rite really, it's been a while since someone's challenged me with a Pikachu. He was a strong, kind trainer and he went on to do great things... maybe you will too. But before we can start talking about the future-" the lieutenant smirked "-we have a battle to fight."

"Agreed." replied my trainer before looking down at me "Alright Spark, give 'em hell."

"Is the challenger ready?" shouted the ref once again. Jack nodded.

"Is the gym leader ready?"

Surge nodded "Yep."

"Then let the battle commence!"

"Spark, start off with agility. I need you to be faster than that Raichu. Then move in with a quick attack." spoke Jack. I followed his command with purpose and used agility, boasting my already intense speed. Then, with the utmost confidence I launched myself at my opponent with full intent to do some damage. Of course neither I or Jack had really thought that action out and had assumed that I would be faster than the Raichu once my agility was in effect and didn't for a second think otherwise.

Before I could hit the Raichu gave proud yell and, while intercepting my attack, he kicked me dead in the gut while I was going full speed. Hopefully it's needless to say how it felt, so I'll spare you the details, but I can say that it forced me to think. This was going to be the first battle where I wasn't going to get an automatic speed advantage. And from what I knew about Raichu's I figured out I would be outgunned when it came to electric attacks.

"You're fast, even for a Pikachu!" exclaimed my opponent with glee "This should be a fun one."

"Static, thunder-punch!" shouted Surge as he pointed at yours truly with bulky fingers.

"Spark, don't let him touch you. Dodge, fall back... do what you need to!" yelled Jack.

What I needed was to get out of there, but I was only a couple of feet away from the Raichu so I took my chances in dodging. Luckily thunder-punch is a slower attack and I had plenty of time to sidestep the attack and think about my next move.

"Don't let him get away." spoke Surge calmly.

Continuing with the momentum he had received from his attack, the Raichu spun around and smacked me in the face. Shocked I staggered and was off balance. I then felt the Raichu grab my ears and pull me in. Suddenly a hard kick hit me in the small of my back and I cried out in pain as I stumbled forward.

"Spark, turn around and use thunder-wave!" shouted Jack with strong urgency.

Energy surged in me as I turned around and delivered a thunder-wave attack straight into the face of my enemy. He recoiled back , but didn't seem to be effected by it much. A punch to the face confirmed that my enemy was still kicking and gave me quite a bit more pain to deal with.

"Spark, wait. Don't use electric type moves. It only makes him stronger!" yelled Jack with realization.

Just in case I wasn't sure Jack was right I was pumped full of energy by a thundershock attack that still managed to hurt. I was starting to get it, strong electric moves gave me energy, but they hurt like anything else. Weak ones just gave me energy... the same thing was happening to the Raichu.

"Spark, move in with some physical attacks." sounded Jack's voice as the crowd cheered on from the sidelines. I took those words to heart, close combat was my specialty.

I moved in with more confidence than an ox and made my opponent understand that he wasn't just going to bowl me over. He saw me coming straight at him, so he prepared to hit me dead on. Seeing his attack coming from a mile away I dodged left and low, with my right arm touching the ground. I then pushed up and delivered a strong punch into the ribs of the Raichu. He grunted, that one hurt and I knew it. Not wanting to let up I stood up completely and gave a quick series of jabs to his torso. Getting his wits about him the Raichu pushed me back with his paws.

He couldn't get any breathing room, and I knew how to use this new distance to my advantage. I picked up as much speed as I could from a new agility attack and sped at him. When I was within range I rolled and got my legs ready. When I was centimeters from the Raichu I planted my body and kicked with everything I had.

The attack hit the Raichu dead in the chin and sent him onto his back. The crowd erupted with cheers as I stood up and prepared for one last attack "Great job Spark, now use one last quick attack."

"Static, mine technique." spoke Surge with a quiet voice. I dismissed the gym leader's words and let off a quick attack on my downed foe. But, everything can't go right all the time. As I was approaching I felt something tangle up my legs. By the time I figured out it was Static's legs I was falling right into the clutches of my enemy. Before I knew what was going on I was wrapped in a bear hug and a large amount of electricity was surging through my body.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, a poor technique that I hoped would alleviate the sharp pain I was feeling. My muscles were tensing up from the power of his attacks and my senses were dulling. I was losing consciousness fast.

All of a sudden the pain stopped and the attack stopped. My ears were ringing as I slid off the Raichu's body unable to do anything about it. My vision was still blurry, but I could make out the Raichu standing up.

"Spark!" shouted Jack's voice in worry.

"The challenger's Pikachu is unable to continue and seeing that the challenger is out of usable Pokemon the gym leader is victorious." spoke the ref from the side.

I could hear Jack's footsteps approaching, but before they reached me I was lifted by someone else. Barely able to stand I put all my weight on my helper, which I soon figured the be Static. My head rested upon his shoulders and the last thing I heard before losing consciousness was-

"That was a good one, maybe you'll give me more than a few bruises next time?"

* * *

Azelf's point of view

* * *

"I suppose you know who I am?" there was no way of hiding my disappointment and anger as I spoke to the two Pokemon before me. I floated over them and their terrified faces. Napoleon had drawn his dagger, but upon realizing just who he was talking to I could tell he was regretting it. Scarlet seemed much less scared, for obvious reasons she was ashamed at seeing me.

Napoleon did a near perfect job of hiding his terror as he sheathed his blade and said "You're Azelf... right?"

Still frowning deeply I levitated to the ground "Spot on... Scarlet!"

The Ponyta jumped and started to shake physically "Y-yes?"

"Do you know what your actions are causing? Your acts of selfishness and ignorance?!" My voice rose louder as my anger exploded.

Napoleon intervened "Stop yelling at her-"

Not in the mood I gave the Snivy a bit of a psychic push, knocking him on the ground "Why don't you tell her where you've been Napoleon. What you did last night... tell her everything."

The heiress looked at her childhood friend with fear "What's he talking about dear?"

Napoleon scrambled to his feet and glared at me like a child.

"Tell her." boomed my voice.

"Scarlet... I found the Purrloin and she's locked up in an abandoned warehouse." spoke Napoleon "She's being subjected to a couple of blood tests and-"

"They're destroying her body is what he meant to say." spoke my voice as I got closer to Scarlet "And once you find out just who that Purrloin is... well lets just say I wouldn't want to be you."


	84. Benign Corruption: The Final Ultimatum

Alright guys, this is a chapter that is made to add some more tension. I hope you like it and don't be afraid to really tell me what you think.

The questions this time : What do you think about Napoleon's master/Scarlet and Dusk's father? Do you trust him? Also, what do you think Darkrai has to do with Dusk and Scarlet?

Hope you like it!

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

The sun was in it's last moments of viability as Scarlet and I entered the mostly abandoned warehouse where my hostage was being held. Guilt and fear clouded my mind and judgement, that visit from Azelf had gotten to me. On top of it I hadn't slept in more than a day and was on the edge of fainting in exhaustion. But I couldn't do that, I could be weak... not in front of Scarlet. I had to be strong for her, I had so show her that even in our darkest hour everything was going to be okay, that we were going to be okay. Nothing was going to hurt her as long as I was there to help her, or at least nothing I could stop.

"Napoleon... what is this place?" asked the fearful Ponyta. Her blue eyes seemed to glow in the dim light and the scarf around her neck blew in the wind of the dusk.

I crossed my arms to keep my chest warm "It's where I'm keeping the Purrloin, and it's where I'm going to end this. I'm tired of you being in danger like this, and I won't have it."

We entered the dull warehouse and found that it was just as cold inside. The broken windows let uneven blades of light cut the floor and a draft flowed through the room with ease. Claire and White were having a nonchalant conversation while Dawn sat against the wall, her arms chained to the wall.

"Ah, Napoleon!" shouted Claire, ever increasing my discomfort "Good to see you back-" the Pikachu eyes Scarlet "And you brought my old friend, how nice."

Scarlet cowered behind me, which was a usual response for anyone who had the unfortunate luck of seeing Claire a second time.

"Napoleon I have some good news for you." spoke White as he ignored Claire "The tests on the Purrloin are done, we have everything we need."

A smile found its way to my face for the first time in a long time, perhaps this whole episode was over and Scarlet and I could go back to actually living our lives. I could bring Dawn back to her trainer and everything would be okay.

"But there is one problem." spoke White as be crossed his arms "The Purrloin."

I frowned "Her name's Dawn-"

"My name is Dusk..." quietly said the Purrloin chained to the wall. I looked over at her and say she wasn't even looking up, she was just slumped there... she looked so weak.

"We have a problem with Dusk... we can't just let her go." spoke Claire as she waltzed over to me "She could tell everyone in the city about what we did here, about the Asylum... even about you."

I felt a lump form in my throat, I knew instantly where with was was going "What are you suggesting?"

Claire pulled out a dagger and held it at her side "I think you know what I'm talking about."

"You can't just kill her!" shouted Scarlet "She didn't do anything wrong."

Claire gave a condescending scoff and approached the Ponyta. I knew Claire wasn't going to hurt her, so I let her pass me. The Pikachu in the tight suit placed a hand under Scarlet's chin and smiled "You are the most adorably ignorant Pokemon I've met in my life."

"And you..." said Scarlet with anger behind her voice "Are one of the sickest individuals that I have ever met."

Claire pulled up closer to Scarlet and whispered_ "Thank you."_

* * *

Ruby's point of view

* * *

"So you lost, can you tell me why I don't find that surprising?"

The injured Umbreon grumbled and crossed his arms "Shut up Ruby, last time I checked you've only fought in one gym battle. I've done two."

I smiled "Yeah, but I won mine."

"You did, but you also have the added advantage of being insane." replied Night with a toothy grin.

"I- I don't think this is the productive area of conversation." Spoke Dexter with a sigh "We need to be talking about Dusk."

It was night now and I was in the hotel room with Night, Dexter, Ferne, Spark and Crystal and we had all just come from the Pokemon Center. From what I knew, all of our trainers were out looking for Dusk. Razor, Vapor, and Jolt were with them... leaving us to talk in the hotel.

"Dexter's right." replied Crystal nodding at the Espeon "I think we all understand that Dusk was kidnapped, however I think it's obvious that she wasn't taken for revenge after the Asylum incident."

"And this is obvious because?" asked Spark as he leaned on a wall.

"Because Night wasn't taken, and if they wanted revenge don't you think they would have taken Night as an example over Dusk?" explained Dexter "Now we just have to figure out who took her."

"No we don't." I spoke out with slight anger behind my voice before eyeing Night, who promptly looked away in embarrassment "Thanks to a certain Umbreon that knew she was going to be taken we know that some guy named Napoleon took her for this girl named Scarlet."

Everyone in the room gave Night a quick glance. The Umbreon frowned "I was in a tough spot okay, I'm sorry I couldn't do more... I just didn't know how to protect her."

"It's not your fault Night... the blame rests equally on Dexter and I as well. We both knew what you told us and didn't act either." Spark spoke before pausing "But that doesn't matter now, talking about what we could have done better won't help us find Dusk... finding Napoleon or Scarlet on the other hand will."

"I've actually already talked with Scarlet." spoke up Ferne "She's in some trouble herself."

I raised a brow in interest "You've talked with this chick, what kind of danger is she in?"

"She was being attacked in her home by... someone that had the intent to kill her. I'm not saying she's a good person, but after talking to her I could tell she didn't want to hurt Dusk." replied the Leafeon.

"Being sympathetic won't help us Ferne, I don't care who they are." I wasn't about to let us feel bad for the bastards that took Dusk. Don't get me wrong, I didn't like the Purrloin... but the thought of her rotting and being tested on somewhere made me sick. "All I care about is finding them and making them pay."

"That's funny." spoke up Night "I'm doing this to find Dusk."

I rolled my eyes "Don't bullcrap yourself Night. You and I both know that all of us in this room wouldn't mind giving the assholes who took Dusk a butt kicking."

"Speak for yourself there Ruby." said Ferne as she paced around the room "I actually know Napoleon and I know how he is. Whatever he did to Dusk, I know he's doing it because he feels he has no other choice."

Crystal's eyes widened "You know Napoleon?"

"He's an old friend... but I still have no idea where he might be. After being attacked I doubt Scarlet will be hanging around her penthouse." responded Ferne.

"You know Napoleon and you've chosen to tell us all this now?" asked Night, there was a little bit of pain in his voice.

"You knew that Dusk was going to get taken and you took your time telling us, we all made mistakes for this to happen." replied Ferne.

"Yes you have..." spoke a familiar male voice in the corner of the room. Surprised and a little scared by this knew visitor we all turned to the source. The small Pokemon was floating slightly above the ground with his arms crossed. His large, bold amber eyes glared at all of us in thought and the gem in his head glowed bright. It was Azelf, that Mew wannabe, and he looked more serious than ever. "But that doesn't mean all hope is lost."

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

The sun was down and the moonlight shined down through the windows, but the silver light gave me no comfort. Even with flames billowing from my head and body I felt colder than ever. My actions were going to end a life; they were going to kill that Purrloin because of me and me alone.

"Dusk." spoke my quiet voice "Are... are you awake dear?"

The Purrloin's breathing was steady and even, she appeared to be sleeping. But after a few seconds the feline nodded slightly "Yes..." her voice was weak and tired, but there was a strong heart behind it "What do you want?"

I put a worried look on my face "I want to make sure that you're okay."

She raised her head and her eyes met mine. To be frank her blood red eyes scared me at first, like there was a sort of evil behind them. However, there was a beauty in them and something that seemed friendly "Why, I'm going to die tomorrow."

"Because I care." I responded "I- I've made mistakes in my life, and because of those mistakes you are here right now. But I'm not going to let them touch you, I promise you that they won't kill you."

"And how can you promise that? I know who you are, you're just some rich Pokemon that has a perfect life." replied Dusk.

I chuckled "I know I'm the last person that you want to help you but I... I don't want you to suffer for what I've done."

Dusk winced as she adjusted herself on her chains "Don't tell me you have something to do with the Asylum."

I looked away "I though they were helping Pokemon in there for a long time, and for a long time they were. But recently I was getting info that said they were doing horrible tests on them." I looked back at Dusk "If I knew what was going on in there I would have never let money get to them."

For some reason Dusk smiled after that and for a moment life flashed through her eyes "Don't worry, I believe you. I think you'll try but I don't want you getting yourself killed just to save me."

I gave a solemn nod, realizing that I was lying to myself. If that Pikachu and Meowth really wanted to kill Dusk, they were going to do it regardless of what I did. But there was something that I felt while talking with that Purrloin, like I knew her somehow. There was a connection there and it was something I had never felt before. I didn't know what it was, but I felt like she wasn't just some stranger... there was something else about her.

But I would have to wait to find out.

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

"Azelf!" I couldn't contain myself upon seeing the legendary after my little screw up. "You're here!"

The blue Pokemon eyed me and nodded "It's good to see you too Night." he looked at Spark "You too Spark." With a quick glance to Ruby Azelf gave her a nod "Even you Ruby."

The Vulpix rolled her eyes "Yeah whatever."

Azelf glared at Dexter "And it seems you already know who I am Dexter... even if it is through a method I wouldn't advice."

The Espeon lowered his ears and gave a weak smile "I apologize, I meant no offence-"

Azelf chuckled "I'm not mad and there's no need for apologies. But there is a need for introduction." The small legendary turned his attention to Crystal and Ferne "I don't think either of you know who I am."

"You're Azelf." Calmly said Crystal with an even tone "I remember seeing you in a book once. I'm just trying to figure out why you seem to know Night, Ruby and Spark."

"I've had past experiences with them." quickly replied Azelf before looking at Ferne and grinning "And it's good to see you too."

Ferne seemed to be in a state of shock, perhaps unable to process the fact that she was looking at a legendary Pokemon. The Leafeon swallowed and blinked "I guess you're why Night knew that Dusk was in danger?"

"You'd be right, and I'm here to give you a little more information." replied Azelf with a serious tone.

"I'm going to tell you where to find Dusk."


	85. Benign Corruption: The Confrontation

__Okay, I understand that the last chapter was a little underwhelming. I wasn't my best. But I hope this one makes up for it. Something I've been building up since you first met Napoleon is about to go down really soon and everything is starting to fall apart. I hope you enjoy reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The question for the chapter- Do you think Napoleon is doing the right thing (in regards to the whole Scarlet situation."

Enjoy!

* * *

_I stomped a paw on the ground in anger as a gust of wind caused the my jacket to shift "I'm not Napoleon. I'm tired of seeing this Ponyta guide you and put you in situations that you don't need to be in. One of these days you're going to do something for her and it's going to get you killed. All you do is make excuses for her over and over again. She breaks the law: she had a reason for it. Her action cause a loss of life: it wasn't her fault. When are you going to open your eyes and see the light of the revolution and destroy this Pokemon that is the symbol of human tyranny?"_

_Black the Vulpix, Chapter 71_

* * *

Dexter's point of view

* * *

"You know where Dusk is being kept!" shouted Night was excitement that I didn't know the Umbreon had. The Pokemon around me seemed to be elated as this news set in, but I didn't have time for such luxuries.

"How long have you known... if I may ask Azelf, because if Dusk has been gone for around 24 hours now we could have used this information long before this." I had a slight frown on my face. I didn't have a good history with legendary Pokemon, and for the most part I knew they always had ulterior motive when dealing with lowly mortals.

"Dexter..." gasped Crystal "Don't be so impolite."

I gave a snide smile "I'm just asking a question... Azelf can answer a question, right?

Azelf didn't even seem angry "Of course I can answer a question." replied Azelf with his arms crossed "But I feel like it's more important that I tell you guys just where to find Dusk. Would you agree in this Dexter?"

"He agrees." interrupted Ruby "I'd hate to get in the way of this little pow wow but I want to find Dusk. So Azelf, tell us where to go."

The blue legendary smiled "I can't tell if that's straightforwardness or impatience ... but I'll get to the point." his smile vanished from his face "Dusk is being held in an abandoned warehouse a mile or two southeast of the city just off a dirt road. If you leave the hotel and go left and then stay along the shore you can't miss it."

"Is that it?" asked Ferne "How do you even know where this place is?"

Azelf avoided the question "That's not important, what is important is figuring out who is going to go. I'm sure you realize it would be overkill if all of you went just to rescue Dusk. Not to mention it would be fairly obvious to your trainer's that something wrong if all six of you were just gone."

He had a good point, and I wasn't about to ignore it "If I may, I feel like Night, Ferne, Ruby, and Spark should go."

Spark raised his ears and glared at me "Okay... why us?"

"Because of type advantage and personal interest." replied yours truly "Night and Ruby know Dusk better than anyone else here, and Ferne seems to know Napoleon. Spark... you are the only electric type here and I know that you are the fastest here."

Ruby shrugged "I wouldn't say I care that much about Dusk..." spoke the vulpine "But if Napoleon is the real threat why have so much backup for Scarlet?"

Azelf's face seemed to dip as he responded with "Don't underestimate her, she's more than just a rich girl."

"But I still don't get your logic Dex." spoke Night "We all have something invested here, even if we all don't know Dusk in the same way. Why should I go an you not? Do you not care what happens to her?"

I could hear the accusatory tone in the Umbreon's voice, but before I could respond Azelf intervened "Scarlet was the main benefactor of the Asylum."

The room went silent, so quiet in fact that the only sounds came from humans talking outside. Everyone in the room looked at Night to gauge his reaction and it was clear that the Umbreon was not happy. One of the things that's etched into my mind was the sheer anger that tightened Night's face and to see the fur on his body stand up on end. "I'm going then."

"Night don't do this for revenge." spoke Spark with concern "This isn't for your own vendetta."

"This isn't just for me Spark... it's for Dusk." he lowered his head "... and it's for Pyro and everyone else that didn't make it out. I don't care who this Scarlet person is, she's not just going to live without knowing the pain that her money caused her fellow Pokemon."

"Night... you can't just-" started Ferne.

"Can't just what Ferne? Serve this Ponyta what she has coming. You saw her cozy life, you met her!" shouted the Umbreon.

Ferne frowned "And I also saw how she was attacked!" shouted back the Leafeon "I don't think she's the evil person you think she is."

"Anyone that would support what Team Galactic was doing in there..." Night stopped "I spend a day in there, and it changed me. I met a Pokemon in there that had spent his whole life in that place. He had never seen real light Ferne, his whole life he only knew pain, suffering, and torture at the hands of the staff there. Why does she get a free pass, she needs to be punished."

"And she will." said Crystal "But I promise you, if you let yourself get mad-"

Night's eyes got sharper "And what do you know about reven-" he stopped himself, he didn't know what he was saying. But for Crystal that was enough.

"What do I know about revenge Night? "questioned the Glaceon "What do I know about wanting payback? I'm sorry that a friend that you didn't know was alive a few days ago is missing. I'm sorry that you know who did it and where they are. I'm sorry that the law is on your side. I'm sorry that you get to have a chance to save her."

"Crystal." spoke my calm voice. Taking a step forward I saw her eyes starting to water.

"I'm sorry that you weren't the last one to see her before she was kidnapped. I'm sorry that you have all these people and a freaking legendary Pokemon to help you. I'm sorry that you don't get to worry about someone you've known since you were born." A single tear slid down her cheek and under her jaw "And I'm so very sorry that you don't get to know that you will _never_ talk to her again."

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

"What do you mean you're leaving?"

White smiled and put his hands into his pants pockets "I've got what Team Galactic needs, I'm returning to Cryus to tell him that the operation was a success."

I didn't believe him, not when just a few minutes before that he was contemplating killing Dusk for insurance. There was something else going on and I really had to find out.

"And I'm supposed to believe you?" I asked while crossing my arms.

"Nope." quickly replied the Meowth before tossing me a key "But you aren't supposed to ask questions. That's the key to one of the Purrloin's handcuffs, Claire has the other one." He walked over to the Pikachu herself and handed her a red vial "It was a pleasure working with you again by the way."

Claire rolled her eyes "Yeah whatever slick, try not to get killed on your way back to your master dog."

White gave a small laugh "Never change Claire." he turned to me and nodded "Good luck Napoleon, and it was excellent seeing you again."

Scarlet, who was standing next to me, shivered as White left the warehouse and escaped through the night air. She had been through a lot in those last couple of days, and even if she was to blame for a lot of it she was strong for being able to face it.

The moment White was gone Claire put a sick smile on her face "So Napoleon, it looks like I get to choose whether or not the Purrloin gets to live."

I frowned, this wasn't good. I had known Claire for years, and I knew that if there was one thing she loved it was having power over someone else. With my eyes still on Claire I handed they key I had received from White to Scarlet "Use this on Dusk's chains, it will open one of them."

The Ponyta nodded and took the key in silence.

"What am I gonna have to do to get you to give me that key Claire?" I demanded, more that tired of having to deal with the Pikachu. It was late at night and I had been awake since I took Dusk. My vision was getting blurred and I was starting to find it hard to even keep my balance. If Claire was going to get aggressive I would need Scarlet's help to beat her.

"You, my reptile friend, are just going to need to answer a few questions for me." replied Claire as she crossed her arms "That's it."

"That's it?" I asked.

The Pikachu's smile went wide "That's it. First question: Do you care about that Purrloin?"

"Of course." I replied without even having to think about it."

"Yes or no please." sounded Claire.

I rolled my eyes "Yes."

"Excellent, now... do you care about Scarlet?" asked Claire.

"Yes." Once again, a no brainer.

"Do you care about the Purrloin more that Scarlet?" questioned the Pikachu.

I frowned, but told the truth "No."

"Do you feel bad about kidnapping the Purrlo-"

"Her name is Dusk." sounded Scarlet from across the warehouse. I glanced over to her and outstretched a hand, indicating that I wanted her to keep quiet.

Claire smirked "Do you feel bad about kidnapping _Dusk_?"

"Yes." I responded.

"Would you have killed Dusk if it would have saved Scarlet's life?"

I went silent, and for the first time I had to really think about how far I would go to protect Scarlet. I tightened my fists as I spit out the answer that made the most sense "No."

"Do you still love me?" asked Claire.

That questions caught me completely off guard and for a second or two I didn't know how to answer it. Looking at Claire I knew I didn't like spending time with her and I knew that when I was around her bad things happened. But at the same time I could never bring myself to hurt her or do any harm to her at all. If she was ever in danger I knew that I would help her without thought.

"No." I replied "I don't."

Claire's smile faded as she nodded "Last question, did you ever love me?"

I sighed as memories flooded my mind. I remembered when we were training with the master and all the time we spent together. I was different and she was different. We were both ignorant, both thinking that things would always be easy and that there was always an obviously right choice. I loved her back then, I loved her more than anything. In fact, she was my first love and she was amazing.

I looked at her eyes and saw how jaded they had become. She had grown darker with age, but there was still that innocence in her. Every evil thing she did had a reason, something behind it that made it acceptable. Claire wasn't an evil person, just a broken person "Yes I did... not anymore. But I never stopped caring about you."

When those last words hit her ears I saw her eyes look down and for a second I thought I might have seen tears form. But the moment passed and she looked back at me with a smirk "Alright Napoleon, that's enough." she tossed me her key "You and I are done here. See that you get that Purrloin medical attention... if she dies this whole thing will get a whole lot messier."

I caught the key and nodded "I will.

"Scarlet!" shouted Claire as she directed her attention to the Ponyta "You are one tough cookie, I didn't expect some rich tool to have the guts that you do. And Dusk... maybe we can meet again under less..." she motioned to the warehouse around us "... crappy conditions."

* * *

Spark's point of view

* * *

The moon glared down on us from the heavens as Night, Ruby, Ferne and I made our way to the location Azelf had told us Dusk was being held. It was easily past twelve and the wind coming off the Vermilion lake was blowing my scarf through the air. Night was leading the pack, his footsteps were strong and deliberate and it was obvious he was very much angry. Ruby was right behind him and seemed just as angry... but then again she always looked pissed off. Ferne was walking next to me and had left her read bandanna in the hotel.

"How long have you known Night Spark?"asked Ferne quietly to ensure that only I would hear her.

"A week or two, why?" I replied.

The Leafeon looked ahead at Night "Because I don't think I've ever seen him this angry. I'm a little worried."

I shivered before saying "But at the same time I haven't heard of anything like the Asylum and I know that if I went through that and had the chance to face the Pokemon that made the Asylum possible... I'd be pretty angry too."

Ferne nodded "I guess you're right."

"Plus, if he goes to far I'll be sure to stop him." I said in a reassuring tone.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?!" shouted/asked Ruby to no one in particular.

"I'm sure." responded Night without even turning around "In fact... I think that's it."

We all looked up the dirt road and under the overhead moon was a decrepit looking warehouse that looked like it was barely standing. Old fabric blew in the wind and sea water was washing up against it's side as old paint hung loosely on its sides. It looked like a regular old abandoned warehouse.

I heaved a sigh "Is everyone ready for this?"

"Yep." spoke Ferne with confidence.

"Of course." said Ruby.

"Perfect..." sounded Night ",then lets show these idiots what happens when you mess with one of our own."

* * *

Dusk's point of view

* * *

When the click of the chains unlocking hit my ears I felt like a weight had been lifted off me, a weight that I had for the previous 24 hours. My limp arms slumped to the and my shoulders sprung to life with pain.

"Dusk..." sounded Napoleon as his hand wrapped around my head. His crimson eyes pulsed with concern, whether or not it was for me I wasn't sure "Are you okay?"

Of course I wasn't okay, I had been chained to a wall and have been tested on for a day. Despite that I forced a smile "I'm better than I was five minutes ago."

"I'm going to get you to a Pokemon center, I'm not just going to make you go through this and not do everything I can do to help." responded the Snivy before turning his head to Ponyta seemed more relieved than me and she beamed at me with happiness. Her gray scarf rested at her sides and the blue flames that jutted out of her body splashed the area around her with light, almost like an aura. "It's over Scarlet, it's all over."

"Hey! You!" shouted a very familiar male voice that echoed through the entire facility. Napoleon stood up and turned around and Scarlet glared with fear. Upon seeing who was now in the warehouse a mix of emotions filled my heart.

Night, Ruby, Spark and Ferne stood in the opening of the old building, the moon illuminating their faces. Night's blood red eyes darted from Napoleon to Scarlet and a deep frown was etched onto his face. Spark and Ferne looked right at me, they seemed the most interested of resolving this without violence. Ruby... Ruby just stared down Scarlet with an intense heat behind her eyes.

Napoleon took a step forward "Look, this isn't what it looks were just on our way to the Pokemon Center and-" the Snivy froze for a second "Jane what are you doing here?"

The Leafeon started to walk toward Napoleon "I'm here to save Dusk. And I'm here to stop whatever you and Scarlet have been doing."

"Jane?" questioned Scarlet "You told me your name was Ferne."

"And I also told you to trust me and to come to me for help. Instead you retreated with Napoleon and continued to keep Dusk locked up." replied Ferne in a poisonous tone.

Scarlet went silent as Napoleon stepped up "You don't understand the situation, we want to help Dusk. White and Claire were here, they were the ones doing tests on Dusk."

"And I'm supposed to just believe you right Napoleon?" sounded the Leafeon.

"You..." spoke the cold voice of Night. His face tightened with fury and dark matter started to form around him "You're Scarlet."

The Ponyta was silent in pure fear, and Night took that as a yes "You're the one that made the Asylum possible. You're the one that made it possible for them to hurt all those Pokemon! What they did in there, the things that I saw and didn't see... all the lives that were rotting away in there while you sat up in your penthouse looking down on the world."

"Night..." spoke Spark's soothing voice.

"Shut up Spark." sounded Ruby before looking at Scarlet "After what he went through in there... I won't judge him for wanting a little revenge."

"Wait!" shouted Napoleon as he put a hand on his black dagger "No one has to get hurt here. Both of us want to help Dusk."

"But both of us didn't bring her here." finished Ruby.

My heartbeat started to race, I didn't want there to be any violence. I wanted to say something, but I was so weak. My eyes felt heavy and my body felt worn. I tired to tighten my muscles to keep myself awake, but my efforts were beginning to fade.

"What's wrong, are you scared?" asked Ruby with a frown on her face as she talked to Scarlet "You should be."

"Guys, stop this!" yelled Spark stepping in front of the more and more aggressive Pokemon he was with "They don't want to fight!"

"Well I do!" shouted back Night as he pushed past his friend. The Umbreon wasn't himself, I could tell. His voice sounded different and his body moved with more power. Anger had taken over and the want for revenge was the only thing that was driving him.

Napoleon unsheathed his dagger "Scarlet get behind me."

"Napoleon-" spoke the Ponyta.

"Now! Scarlet this is bad, get behind me now!" yelled the Snivy.

"You _can't _beat all of them by yourself Napoleon." replied Scarlet calmly before eyeing her enemies "I'm going to help you."

"God damn it Scarlet get behind me right now! I've seen the look in that Umbreon's eyes. He is going to kill you. I will stop him but I can only do that if you _freaking' get **behind**_** me**_!" _boomed Napoleon's voice before he pointed his dagger at my friends "Don't take one more step Umbreon. You'll regret it. If you take that step I'll assume you're trying to commit murder."

Night stopped and eyed the snake with his sharp red eyes. He stood there in silence, everyone did. The only sounds came from the fabric on the roof blowing around in the ever more intense wind. Night smirked "Try me Snivy." and he took a step.

With speed that I couldn't see Napoleon took his free arm, reached down to his waist and threw something at Night. Ferne lunged in front of Night and a loud clang was heard through the room. Another one sounded as a black throwing dagger hit the ground. Napoleon had just tried to kill Night, and the tone of the room changed instantly.

"That-" spoke Ferne with blades coming out of her wrists "Was a mistake you might not live to regret Napoleon."


	86. Benign Corruption: A Snivy and a Ponyta

Sorry once again for the really long update time guys. It was a combination of school, holidays, and the process of going through and correcting some mistakes in earlier chapters (plot related and grammar related).

One little thing too, every time I update I get a little less than three hundred views... which is really awesome. And the the new chapter I post usually gets around 40 views within a couple of days. But I get very view reviews. It's not that I'm complaining , and regardless if I get reviews or not I'll continue to post chapters... but I am saying that if I got more reviews I'd be much more likely to get the next chapter out sooner. Not to mention that I try to respond to all reviews and thank the reviewer and answer any questions. So if you've never reviewed and enjoy the story... or hate it and want to give me some advice, just tell me what you think about it. Thanks guys and gals, I really appreciate it.

Now back to the actual story and the question of the chapter, and it's a pretty general one. Who is your favorite character, and why?

This is about the halfway point through Vermilion too, and if you've been waiting for some more suspense and drama, I think the next few chapters will entertain you. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Napoleons point of view

* * *

My whole body was shaking as the weight of my choice really hit me. I had made the first move, I tried to kill that Umbreon, and that was going to set the tone for the fight. This wasn't going to be a "teach me a lesson" battle, this was a battle that could get deadly fast. With Scarlet and I being grossly outnumbered, me being fatigued already, and Scarlet having little fighting experience it really looked terrible.

Jane glared at me with a passion I hadn't see in years, since I knew her when we were training under the master. Her hair was standing up on end and I could see her paws trembling in what I hoped was fear but I thought was anger. "You tried to kill Night."

I gulped "I told him not to-"

"You tried to _kill _someone Napoleon! I don't know what changed you, but it changed you for the worse." the Leafeon turned her head to her allies "Stay back, I'll handle him."

My eyes felt heavy and my body felt weak. I tightened the all the muscles I could and unsheathed my dagger. I glanced over at Scarlet and saw a look of complete terror on her face. She knew I was in bad shape and there was no way I was going to beat all four of these Pokemon by myself. The Ponyta turned to face Jane and her group "I won't let you hurt him."

"Scarlet stay out if it." I said quickly "Just... I think you should get out of here."

The heiress pouted and stomped a hoof "No, I'm not leaving you to fight my battles. If they're going after you I will help you!"

Jane eyed Scarlet "Don't get involved Scarlet. This is you chance to show that you're better than Napoleon and stop this."

"No..." sounded the scared Ponyta "I'm not leaving and I'm not standing down."

"Fine by me." spoke the Umbreon taking a step forward "Let's get this over with." When the dark type started to charge up a shadow ball I knew that the battle had started. Resigned that Scarlet was going to help me whether I wanted her to or not I made it a priority to focus on Jane. She was the most dangerous threat in the room and as long as she was still in the fight I had no chance of winning.

I charged at Jane, ready to do what was needed to end the fight quickly. I swung wide with my dagger, and just like I predicted Jane blocked the attack with ease. Grinding my blade agaist hers I turned around and managed to use the momentum to punch her in the face. The Leafeon staggered back and swiftly recovered and slashed at my stomach. I scooted back just in time to get headbutted in the chest.

Under most circumstances I would have just brushed that off and kept fighting like it didn't happen, but after being awake for more than 24 hours I couldn't recover as fast. I gripped my abdomen and eyed Jane with anger.

"I can't believe you would do this Napoleon..." spoke in a disappointed manner "I thought you were above kidnapping."

"You don't understand Jane, I'm not doing this just to do it. I had no other choice." I swung at her sloppily and she swiftly caught my blade with her's and slashed at my other arm. Needless to say, I had nothing to block it with and received a shallow gash on my left arm. Jane continued her attack by retracting one of her blades and punching me in the gut. I wasn't prepared for it and didn't have time to tighten my abdomen muscles so my organs got the full force of the jab. Knowing that I had to stop Jane's little combo I placed one of my hands on my forehead and let loose a close range flash attack.

Jane recoiled back, temporarily blinded by the attack that had been past down through my family for generations and I was getting ready to launch a counter offensive when I heard a loud scream of pain. Looking over at the source I saw Scarlet's form sliding across the rumble on the floor and the Umbreon walking towards her.

"Night, don't lose control of yourself!" shouted Jane.

Night smirked "Just focus on your battle Ferne and I'll focus on mine." His voice was filled with anger and pain. From what I knew this was the Umbreon that was in the Asylum with Dusk and had a good reason to want to hurt Scarlet. I would've helped her if the situation was normal, but I was dealing with Jane/ Ferne and had no time to assist her.

I chose to change up my battle style, Jane was too comfortable using her blades against me. I back up a couple of steps and lobbed an energy ball attack at top speeds. The ball nailed Jane right in the forehead and she staggered back and shook the attack off "That one kinda hurt Napoleon."

I sheathed my blade, showing that I wasn't going to use it "It was intended to." And with that I charged another one and threw it at Jane, who ducked under it.

Jane isn't a dumb girl and knew what I was doing, so she sped at me and got ready to strike. Once she was within range she pounced at me, her small claws ready to do some damage. Waiting for the right moment I let her attack and right when she was in the right spot I uppercut her right in her belly. She grunted and she hit the ground cringing in pain.

Just when I had feeling confident a sharp pain hit me in the back. I felt my muscles tense up and I knew it was some type of electric attack, it seemed like the Pikachu with the blue scarf had chosen to step in. I fell to my knees unable to move and helpless against any attacks they would send my way.

"Just surrender Napoleon, you're outnumbered and out matched." spoke the calm male voice of the Pikachu from behind me.

I looked to my side and saw Scarlet being forced the the ground again by a flamethrower attack from the Vulpix. Once she was on the ground the Umbreon spoke up "Always need to get involved right Ruby?"

The Vulpix frowned "This is part of my revenge too Night."

Scarlet struggled to get up and stood on wobbly legs. Her cloths were more like rags now and her thin gray scarf rested at her side. The Ponyta I had known since we were both children was panting hard and her mane of fire was getting duller.

"Scarlet..." I said softly as the electricity started to leave my body "Get out of here, now. I'll stay back and-"

I was cut off by a strong shadow ball hitting my face. A dark boom filled the room and my head jerked and I felt the burn on my face. I felt my body give up and lose consciousnesses after staying awake for more than a day and taking all the attacks that it had I didn't blame it. I blamed myself, for not protecting Scarlet and for letting her get involved with Team Rocket and Team Galactic. I blamed Giovanni and Cyrus. I blamed Scarlet's mother for being a bad influence and I blamed her father for not being around.

But most of all I blamed Scarlet, and her benign corruption.

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

"Night, what the hell was that!" shouted Ferne in anger as Napoleon's form went still after the surprise shadow ball.

The Umbreon frowned and gritted his teeth "I-"

"I knew you shouldn't have come. You're too unstable and angry!" shouted back Ferne.

Night shook his head "You don't get it do you Ferne. These people helped the Asylum become real. They were okay with the unspeakable things that happened in there. Any pain or discomfort that they feel is completely justified."

The Pikachu in the room interrupted "You can't really think that Night-"

"You didn't see what was going on in there Spark," the Umbreon suddenly eyed me "But I'm sure you did."

My heart jumped in my chest "I... I really didn't know what-"

The Vulpix pushed me onto the ground with force and anger "Shut up, you knew what you were doing."

"I really didn't!" I pleaded before looking at Ferne "Tell them!"

The Leafeon gulped and looked at Night "She isn't the bad guy here guys, we can't just go around and hurting people. They're done, we can just get Dusk and get out of here."

Night's face tightened "I'm not going to let her just walk out of this..." The Umbreon sighed "Did you hear that Scarlet!"

I closed my eyes tight and I curled into a ball, as far as I was concerned that Umbreon wasn't going to rest until he killed me. And he had a point, I had let the Asylum happen and I gave Team Galactic money to run it... and the whole time I was living the luxury life and not even appreciating it.

_"What's wrong Scarlet? Afraid?" _boomed the everlasting deep voice of Darkrai through my thoughts.

I tightened my eyes _'What do you want... just leave me alone...'_ my thoughts sounded as clear as speech as I conversed with the dark type using my mind.

Darkrai laughed _"You really are pathetic, but I feel like I have an obligation to help you so I shall."_

_'What do you mean?'_ I questioned.

_"I mean that I need you to get scared. Let fear take over, let me take over and you'll unlock a power you could never achieve without me. Let me help you show your enemies that they cannot best a daughter of Darkrai, not without a fight." sounded Darkrai "Get afraid, because if you don't you won't stand a chance."_

_Tears started to form in my eyes 'I... I can't do it.'_

_"Do** not** tell me you cannot do it. You were born with this power, unleash it now. **I command you**!"_

My body shook as I listened to Darkrai and let all hope and happiness leave my body. I felt fear latch onto my very being and my body started to change. My heart went cold and I could feel the blood in my body turn to ice. The chilled blood ran through me and gave me strength and as my heart started to beat even faster I felt my body spring to life with energy I had never felt before.

Standing up I eyed the Umbreon with anger, ready to use my new found power to show them they weren't going to just run me through. Glancing over at Napoleon's unconscious form I resolved I would give Night the full brunt of my revenge.

"You wanted a battle?" I asked "Well you've got one now dear."

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

The whole room seemed to change as Scarlet stood up, her body seeming so much stronger than before. Her once small fire mane had gone limp like actual hair and covered half of her face. Fire seemed to drip from it like lava and die out on the floor in small embers. Her blue eyes shined bright in the moonlight and her breath was controlled and calm.

"You don't want to do this Scarlet." spoke Spark "We don't want to hurt you."

I paused, thinking that I wanted nothing more in the world than to cause her pain, but I knew that wasn't true. I wish I could've said I wanted to attack Napoleon with that shadow ball and I wish I wanted to just get revenge... but in my heart I knew I didn't. I didn't like to cause pain, no matter if I thought someone was evil. As I looked into Scarlet's eyes I could see anger, but I could also see fear and pain. I wasn't sure if she was ignorant or misguided... but I was almost certain that the Ponyta I was looking at wasn't evil.

"You just don't know when to give up do you?" questioned Ruby before getting into a battle stance "Fine, I guess I'll have to put you down myself."

Ruby had barely finished uttering those words when a flamethrower with enough heat and light the blind me blasted into her. Being a fire-type she didn't get the worst part of the attack, but when it hit her I could tell that if that attack was directed towards anyone else... they'd be done.

The Vulpix fell to the ground and eyed Scarlet "You little-" before standing back up and flicking her tails around "You wanna tussle? Fine."

Ruby charged at Scarlet, and I expected her to destroy the Ponyta. The fox swiped at Scarlet's face and with speed that was almost impossible to see Scarlet bopped out of the way, turned around , and kicked Ruby in the gut with her two very powerful legs. The vulpine screamed in agony and I felt my blood run cold, she was seriously hurt. Ruby skidded across the ground and landed next to me, her face tight with pain and paws gripping her chest.

"Ruby..." I said quietly before placing a paw on her "Are you-"

"No I'm not okay you idiot!" shouted the fox before wincing "I think she broke a couple of ribs..." her voice faded and she sighed "Stupid Ponyta's fast."

My mind started racing with thoughts. At that point I understood my previous rage was unfounded and that I shouldn't of attacked Napoleon like that and I shouldn't of threatened Scarlet the way I had. But Ruby had been hurt and even if she did treat me like crap and insult me at every turn (and I did the same) I cared for the stupid little Vulpix I had met in the Viridian Forest and I hated to see her in pain.

Frowning I looked back at Scarlet. Her eyes were filled with anger "I just want you to leave us alone!"

"Well we can't do that, not after what you and Napoleon did to Dusk." I responded before eyeing Ruby and nodding "You gave up your chance to end this peacefully Scarlet." I got into a battle stance "Let's do this."

"Wait, Night don't!" shouted the voice of Spark, but I was already running at Scarlet with intent to do battle. I had seen how fast she was and how one solid hit took Ruby out. Being in no mood to break any bones I launched a feint attack, approaching calmly and then striking with force. Scarlet recoiled, and let loose a flamethrower attack that I barely dodged. I knew it was suicide to let her get too close to me so I backed off.

"Night she's too fast." said Ferne, who I ignored with prejudice.

I charged up a shadow ball under the understanding that I was only going to win if I could keep the Ponyta at bay. As I launched the attack I hoped it would do some damage against the horse, but she simply side-stepped it with ease. The shadow ball kept going and collided with the wall in a dark explosion. Scarlet seemed to have seen her chance, because right after that she charged at me with what I assumed was a quick attack. I had no change of dodging it, so I braced myself and took the hit dead on. It didn't hurt much, but there was some serious power behind it that sent me back a few feet.

Sighing I turned to Spark and Ferne "You guys are free to help whenever you feel like it!"

Spark looked at me with his brown eyes and tightened his fists before glaring at Scarlet "I'm sorry about this Scarlet, but you've given us no other choice." Electricity started to cut the air around the Pikachu as he gripped his right arm with his left hand. I instantly recognized it as the shock gun, and when he raised his arm' I knew Scarlet wouldn't be able to take the full force of Spark's strongest attack. Spark's yell filled the room and his attack roared through the air. I was certain Scarlet wouldn't be able to move out of the way, but of course I was wrong. There was a blur and the sound of rushing air and Spark's attack simply hit the side of the warehouse and dissipated throughout the building.

Spark was dumbfounded as he looked around the room "Night, behind you!"

Before I even had time to breath a force that felt like a train hit my lower left leg, sending sharp pain up into my body. I screamed in agony and fell forward knowing that I was out of the battle. I wasn't sure how Scarlet had gotten behind me but I did know that I was at her mercy and she could do whatever she wanted to me. I closed my eyes and awaited my fate... but it never came. First there was silence, and then the sound of sobs.

I froze, not knowing at all what to do. Spark and Ferne watched on in silence as the scene before them continued to develop. She was crying, I was sure of it but I couldn't figure out why. I took in one long breath and rolled onto my back.

Scarlet was standing over me, but the strength and power that I had felt emitting from her before was gone. Her legs shook with weakness and tears rolled down her face. Her cloths had been completely destroyed and hung from her body in rags while her scarf rested at her side. Her fairly beautiful face was tight with emotion and her striking blue eyes glared at me.

"I'm s..." her voice faded.

"What?" I responded softly.

"I'm sorry for hurting you and all those Pokemon with my money!" blurted out the Ponyta as she became an emotional wreck, "I- I didn't know what they were doing to you in there and if I had I swear I wouldn't of let it happen. I... I organized the attack on the Asylum, I found out what was really happening inside it's walls and I wanted it to stop."

I just stared on in silence as she continued "Do whatever you want with me... take me to jail, beat me up... I don't care. But whatever you do please don't include Napoleon. He was only doing what he felt like he needed to do to protect me. I made all the mistakes, not him. He shouldn't have to suffer for my sins."

I didn't know what to feel. I was still angry at her, for the Asylum and for hurting Ruby... but I couldn't hurt her, not after that. My mind raced to come up with something to say, luckily Ferne picked up the slack "Scarlet, is Dusk hurt?"

The Ponyta gulped "She... she's weak but not injured. She could use a Pokemon Center."

"Did you do the tests on her." spoke Spark with a serious tone "Or did Team Rocket have something to do with this?"

"Team Rocket and Team Galactic showed an interest in her, and to pay back my crimes to them they had Napoleon kidnap her. Neither Napoleon nor I had any contact with her during the trials, I swear." Scarlet was starting to calm down and had stopped sobbing, but the tears still ran down her face.

I stood up and backed away from her, limping as I went. She seemed so genuine and sorry for what had happened. My anger was still there, but it wasn't as strong "I say we let her go."

"I agree." quickly sounded Spark "She... she isn't the bad guy in this situation."

"Yeah..." said Ferne before looking at Napoleon, who was still resting on the ground "And neither was Napoleon."

"He did try to kill me..." I said coldly "I can't forget that."

"He was scared." spoke up Scarlet "Who wouldn't be in the situation he was in."

I gave that comment a moment of thought and realized she was right. He thought I was going to kill Scarlet, and was willing to do anything to make sure that didn't happen.

Spark sighed "Okay then... I guess we should get Dusk and Ruby and get out of here." I now saw that Dusk was unconsious, but still breathing leaning agaist a wall across the warehouse. Spark looked at me "Unless, you have anymore unfinished business?"

I nodded and looked at the pitiful, broken Ponyta before me "Scarlet."

She raised her head "Yes dear?"

I sighed and gave a weak smile. I had spent so much time angry at what had happened in the Asylum and I thought I would relish the chance to get some revenge. But here she was, the one who made the whole place happen and I had little hate directed at her. Whatever was truly going on and whoever was really responsible didn't matter to me at that moment. If I was going to save Arceus, I would need to become a better person.

"I forgive you." I said in a calm voice, at least it's a good start.


	87. Benign Corruption: Sisters in Darkness

And the first chapter of the new year is here! This is the end of one of, if not the longest story arc in this story thus far! It's the completion of a character and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

* * *

"Do you think they're okay?"I asked with worry in my voice "They've been gone for a while."

Dexter shrugged calmly and gave a little smirk "I wouldn't worry to much about them Crystal. These are the Pokemon that took on the Asylum and won. Heck, one of them is the Pokemon that beat me at my own game. I highly doubt they're having any problems dealing with Scarlet or Napoleon." said the intelligent Espeon with a flick of his ears.

I sighed "I guess you're right." and with that the room went silent. I had something in my mind that was very much bothering me that stopped me from having a regular conversation with Dexter. Back on the road to Vermilion Ferne had called him Requiem, and he seemed scared... like he didn't want me to hear it. I couldn't just forget about that, not after only knowing the Espeon for several days.

_'Bringing it up might make him nervous'_ I thought,_ 'But I can't just let something like that slide.'_

"Dexter, I need to ask you something." I suddenly said in a sad tone. The Espeon's ear's perked up, obviously he caught my tone and was wondering what was wrong.

"Okay, what do you need to know?"he responded with interest.

"I need to know why Ferne called you Requiem on the road, and I want to know why you got so worried when she did." my voice was strong and I spoke with purpose.

Dexter's face went blank and I could see his mind racing, trying to figure out what to say. His eyes looked to the floor and his ears drooped slightly as he sighed "I hoped you didn't notice that."

I frowned "That's all you have to say? You lie to me about your name and that's your reaction."

"I didn't lie to you, my name is Dexter... at least my current name is." responded the Espeon before getting closer to me. His deep blue glared at me, like he was looking straight through me "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life Crystal, and I don't want to be judged by them."

"So you used to go by the name Requiem?" I asked "Why... what did you do?"

Dexter gave an uneasy sigh "Let's just say there's a reason I was so willing to help you and Ace back in Cerulean city." He eyed me "Can we keep it at that?"

"I don't know how you expect me to trust you if you keep secrets like that." I responded a little angry that Dexter was acting the way he was. But at the same time, maybe this was just how he was. I had only known the Espeon for several days... it was possible he was putting on an act to impress me.

Dexter seemed genuinely hurt when I said that, and I guess it made him change his mind about telling me about his past "I..." his breathing rate started to increase and he swallowed hard before saying quickly-

"I used to be a part of Team Galactic."

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

"Napoleon... " sounded my voice as the isolation of the moment really sunk in. Ferne and her friends had left with Dusk, leaving me alone to tend to Napoleon and my ever growing guilt. Wind blew through the several broken windows in the warehouse and shades of grayish blue surrounded me and the large moon watched over me.

My legs shook with fear as I stood over Napoleon's unconscious form. His eyes were closed, but a look of slight pain was plastered on his face. Laying on his side I could see his chest rising and falling with the rhythmic breathing associated with sleeping. I felt a little angry that the Umbreon had hurt him, but I was thankful that they had let us be after what had happened.

"Be strong Scarlet..." I spoke to myself "You have to be... for Napoleon." At that point I didn't care about getting caught or losing my reputation. In fact, I didn't even care about my money and my fortune. All I wanted in that moment was to get Napoleon help, and the only help I could think of was the Pokemon Center.

_"What's wrong Scarlet... your little protector all tuckered out?" _sounded a cold voice that made me jump. Shaking violently I forced myself to turn around and face this new Pokemon. In the doorway of the warehouse were two Pokemon, and when I saw one of them I was certain I was moments from death. One of the figures was a Scyther without a doubt. It seemed to be black, with the exception of it's shining white blades. It was hunched over and wore a serious frown on it's face. I instantly recognized the other Pokemon as Black, the Vulpix that had tried to kill me earlier that same day. Brown eyes beamed at me with seething hate and without Napoleon to help me I was a sitting duck.

Darkrai's power had helped me before, but it had left my body weak and helpless. I took a step forward "You want to kill me don't you." Just saying that made a tear escape my eyes.

The Vulpix's already angry face tightened "You knew this was coming for a long time, it's time you've atoned for your crimes."

"So you and your allies choose to come after me, and not Team Galactic or Team Rocket?" I asked before giving a sad smile "But then again, I did help them."

The Scyther took a menacing step forward "Your death will be a symbol, a sign that the age of human oppression is coming to an end."

I didn't even feel it happen, and the next thing I remembered was Black standing before me with a paw to my chest. Then everything started to hit my brain... I felt something cold stabbing into my body where his hand was and an odd sensation happening inside of my form. I inhaled, exhaled and then felt something in my mouth. The iron taste of the liquid gave me the first warning, I was dying.

All the muscles in my body went cold as Black pulled his blade out of my chest I saw a trail of my blood stroll down my chest and stain my abdomen. I withdrew onto my hind legs and looked Black in the eye. He looked so determined, and angry... but behind his eyes I could see remorse, like a part of him didn't want to do what he had done. I didn't have much time to think about it though.

My body fell to the ground like a rock and I felt my fragile bones collide with the concrete floor. Coughing I saw a thin spray of blood come from my mouth and stain the ground before me. I was certain I was in the last moments of life. I felt so unaccomplished and sad, I had spent my whole life either living off of my mothers' money or getting my own by doing terrible things. I had done nothing good and had never helped anyone but myself. I made Napoleon do horrible things to an innocent Pokemon and break his moral code, all after I had refused to listen to his advice.

My eyes started to close and part of me was relived, maybe the world would be a better place without me. Maybe Napoleon could actually live his life.

_"You think I'll just let you die?" sounded the now familiar voice of Darkrai before he laughed._

_"I'll have no such thing."_

* * *

Dusk's point of view

* * *

I was awakened by the blinding lights of the Pokemon Center and the sound of various panicked voices. Opening my eyes I noticed that I was on some type of warm black surface, the most comfortable thing I had been on in a while. After shifting around I realized I was on someone's back, Night's back. I gave a soft moan as the pain in my arms reawakened. My arms had been chained to a wall for the past day it and was clear they had been negatively effected by the experience.

"Don't worry Dusk..." sounded the calm sound of Night's voice "Your safe now."

My consciousness seemed to fade in and out as my mind struggled to figure out what was going on. In addition to the tests the Meowth and the Pikachu did to me my body hadn't eaten anything for a while making it even harder to stay awake and alert. I attempted to raise my head and look around with my still uselessly blurry vision, but all that did was sap the small amount of energy I had left. Everything went black again as my face sunk into Night's fur.

_"I'm actually **not **disappointed in you Dusk." spoke the uncomfortably familiar tone of my dark type overseer._

_I had passed out, and was now in Darkrai's realm. Looking around I saw swirling masses of darkness and tints of purple surrounded me. I was standing on something, but I couldn't see or feel it what so ever, making it look like I was floating in that crack in existence. Darkrai stood before me, his white cowl whisking in the wind like smoke that refused to dissipate._

_"Are you impressed that I survived that warehouse?" I asked, wondering if I could see if he actually cared about me._

_"No, not at all." replied the legendary Pokemon without emotion "As I said, I'm not disappointed. You acted the way I thought you would." he went silent for several seconds as he got uncomfortably close to me "Do you know why Team Rocket and Team Galactic were so interesting in doing tests on you?"_

_I gave a weak smile "I would actually love to."_

_"Because not only did you survive what Team Galactic gave you in the Asylum, you came back stronger than before and that's something that's never happened before." Darkrai's dark laugh filled my ears "Unfortunately for them, all that serum did was change the color of your eyes."_

_I nodded and asked "So that... energy I can tap into, that's only you?"_

_"No, but you wish it was." spoke the master of darkness "It comes from be originally, but your weak mortal body taints it and can't truly handle it. That is why whenever you use it your energy gets sapped very quickly." Darkrai backed up, his form moving with purpose and grace "I have to go, important things to attend to..."_

_A little relieved that he was leaving I nodded "Okay... but one more thing Darkrai..."_

_His eyes glared at me "What?" his voice was sharp with disgust._

_I signed "I wanted to thank you. Whatever these powers are, I wouldn't have them without you. They've helped me out of a few tough spots, so thanks."_

_"You..." started the dark type before pausing "Your welcome."_

_Then everything went black_

* * *

Acid's point of view

* * *

"They rescued the Purrloin from Napoleon and Scarlet." spoke my brother, his metal fur shining in the moonlight as his orange eyes scanned the area "And I have to say I'm actually pretty impressed!"

My purple gas mane surrounding my neck billowed in the slight wind as my shallow light purple eyes looked down upon the Pokemon Center from the rooftop we were currently on to our current high value target was. "I guess Amethyst was right, we didn't need to intervene."

Rust giggled "Maybe, that Delcatty knows what she's doing sometimes."

"She always does," I responded with a yawn "She's amazing like that. It's uncanny."

"The master's going to arrive in the city tomorrow " stated my brother before turning around to look at me with a wide smile on his face "I don't know about you Acid, but I'm going to enjoy seeing him again."

I couldn't help put return with a smirk "Yeah, he's really busy... but he knows that we know he tries. Being second in command of Team Rocket is a big responsibility, hopefully spending some time with us will help him out."

I did my best to hide just how much I disparately wanted to see my trainer again. My mind longed for the days when we were children and we would just play and not worry about the world. Everything was so simple and happy, and even as the year went on my trainer and I still spend so much time together. Then Dusk, Amethyst and I were given our rank and our trainer was given his status as second in command... and our relationship suffered.

"I wonder how Scarlet and Napoleon are doing." I said, trying to change the subject before I let myself get too emotional "From what I could tell Night and his friends didn't leave them in good shape. I feel like we should make sure they're alright, I don't think Team Rocket wants to see either of them dead."

Rust shrugged, his metal ears lowering "I guess we should-" he looked out to the road leading to the abandoned warehouse "Fine, we run over and make sure they made it back then straight back to Vermilion. Plus, if we actually save them that might put Team Rocket back in the good graces of the people."

I laughed at the though of us being praised "Maybe, we'll see." I walked over to the edge of the one story building we were on and gestured to the ground "Alright, we better get going. Wouldn't want to waste time."

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

I wasn't dead.

If there was one thing that I could figure out as I opened my eyes it was that. I wasn't dead. Black hadn't killed me and I was still laying on the cold concrete floor of that dreaded warehouse. My eyes felt shaky and my vision was blurry, but I didn't feel like someone who had just been stabbed in the chest.

On the other hand as my senses started to come back I realized I was laying in a small puddle of what I assumed to be my blood. Looking down my muzzle I saw that I was correct, a small pool of blood seemed to have formed in front of my chest.

I coughed, and when I did I realized why I was still alive. Black had stabbed me in the chest, but not in my heart. I felt a sort of hole in my body and a shaking chill entering my chest. Gripping where I felt pain I noticed the actual wound, a small knife injury over one of my lungs.

_'He stabbed me.' _I thought _'He... he collapsed one of my lungs.' _My body started to shake uncontrollably as my subconscious realized that I was in serious danger of dying. I closed my eyes tight and tried to focus on what I needed to do.

That's when I remembered Napoleon. The last thing I remembered before I blacked out was that he was behind me, meaning I would have to stand up to see if he was okay. The only injury I had sustained was to my chest, so the rest of my body was fine... or at least I thought it would be. The moment I put weight onto one of my legs pain shot up into my chest cavity.

"Gah!" sounded my voice as I collapsed back onto the ground feeling weaker than I was before. Panting heavily I considered whether or not I'd be able to withstand the pain of walking. Lifting my head I saw that when I fell I had turned my body and I was now looking at Napoleon's still very much unconscious body.

"Na-" my voice cut itself off before I could finish calling his name. He had saved my pitiful life so many times and I wasn't about to fail him. Willing to fight through the pain I placed one of my front hooves on the ground. Pain that almost crippled me again surged through my body and I started to cry from the sheer agony. By the time my other front hoof had weight on I was sobbing.

_'Come on Scarlet old girl... stay focused.' _I forced my hind legs up, now I had to find a way to get Napoleon out of there. The only thing I could think of was carrying him on my back, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle it. By just standing up I could hear my heartbeat in my head and I could feel my still open chest wound run with blood and fluid. My breathing was pained and uncommon, with only one lung to support me my body was already running on fumes.

I felt the presence of something else enter the room behind me, but I didn't have the energy to do anything. Even talking would exhaust too much. Voices started to talk, but I couldn't hear them over the sound of my blood pumping through my body. Everything in my body went limp as I fell down next to Napoleon. Still crying I felt hot tears run down my face and onto the cold floor. I looked at Napoleon's face, and how calm he looked as he breathed in a soothing manor. I was certain the presence I felt in the room was Black coming back to finish the job. My will to fight was gone along with all of my strength. For the fourth time that day I was sure I was about to die.

In my last breaths before I loss consciousnesses I reached for Napoleon, the Pokemon I had relied on my whole life and loved more than anything else, and spoke out "I'm sorry... dear."

"I'm so... sorry."


	88. Galactic Surge: On Death's Door

It's Valentines Day, and since I love all of you I updated! Vermilion City is pass the halfway point, but don't think I put in a bunch of foreshadowing to have Napoleon and Scarlet be the worse thing about Vermilion!

This will be one of the last times I can ask this... What do you think Dexter did for Team Galactic?

I hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Rust's point of view

* * *

"What do you think happened to them?" I asked my brother in a tone of worry "We were only gone for half an hour!" I was jogging at an uneven pace, trying to keep the unconscious Snivy on my back from falling off.

"I don't know." responded my brother, he had let the usual cloud of poison around his neck recede so that the Ponyta on his back could breath "All I know is that Scarlet's in really bad shape. We need to get her to a Pokemon Center ten minutes ago."

My heart was beating was anticipation Even through neither Napoleon nor Scarlet were my problem I still felt an obligation to make sure they didn't die. If Team Rocket was going to lead Kanto and Johto into peace and unite the world, we would need to set an example of how to act when trouble arises.

"We can't really go faster though." I said, still jogging at a solid pace "Any faster and they might fall off."

"And if we don't pick up the pace I'm certain Scarlet's going to bleed out." replied my brother with a sigh before stopping "We have to find some way to stop her from losing so much blood."

I frowned and thought about protesting, but after a moment I realized he was right. Acid slowly let Scarlet fall to the ground, exposing his now blood stained back.

"I know a weak fire move, I think I'll have to cauterize her wound." spoke Acid solemnly "I- I can't see another way from keeping her alive long enough to get to the Pokemon Center."

I shook my head " You sure about that? If she's already hurt and I think burning her would just add to the problem."

Scarlet coughed, cringed, then moan as she rolled onto her side. Her eyes opened, but they looked so dull and lifeless she looked dead. Blood continued to dribble from her chest wound at a steady rate and she had a deathly rattle to her._ 'Great,_' I thought _'Now she's awake, this'll make this whole situation easier.'_

My brother stroked her face and spoke softly "Scarlet, can you hear me? Nod if you can."

After another cough, one that send a mist of blood from her mouth, the Ponyta nodded and sniffled.

"Okay, good. You're losing a lot of blood, so much that I don't think you're going to make it to the Pokemon Center in time. I need to stop the bleeding, and the only way I know I can do that and stop any infection is to burn the wound shut." sounded Acid in a serious tone.

Worry seeped it's way into Scarlet's eyes as she struggled to get the strength to protest. She didn't want to go through with it, and I didn't blame her.

"It's the best course of action." I spoke up, trying to make the situation easier "We're doing this for your own good."

Scarlet didn't have the might to talk, let alone fight back, but she did shake her head. No doubt she didn't want to go through with was my brother was suggesting. Blood still dribbled from her chest wound at an alarmingly consistent pace and her once beautifully groomed white fur was natty, scratchy , and dried blood caked some parts of it. Tears flowed from the Ponyta's eyes and her face had a clear look of pain on it.

"I'm sorry Scarlet." spoke my brother as he placed his front paws on Scarlet's chest "This is my only option to keep you alive." he looked up at me "Rust, can you make sure she doesn't move, that would just make things worse."

A weak smile found it's way onto my face "Of course." I carefully placed Napoleon's body on the ground and paced up to the Ponyta. A cold breeze blew past me, ruffling my metal fur. I looked down upon Scarlet, and into her faded cerulean eyes. Against my heart I forced myself to hold her down. Her weak movements were nothing to me, but every little nudge was amplified by my mind. I knew I was helping her, but causing any Pokemon pain was something that brought me no joy.

"Okay Scarlet," spoke Acid as he formed a small flame in his paws from a weak ember attack "I'm doing it on three..."

Scarlet's form shifted slightly, but I kept her mostly in place.

"One..."

She looked up at me, tears running from her face.

"Two..."

The Ponyta closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.

"One."

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

I glared at my trainer in the lobby of the Pokemon Center in silence, awaiting his reaction. With Spark flanking me I was hoping that he wouldn't yell our heads off like he had before. I really didn't care, he was my trainer but he wasn't about to treat me like I was a child... Spark on the other hand felt differently. I knew that the first time Jack scolded him he didn't take it too well. He seemed to think highly of Jack's opinion, and for his sake I was hoping Jack would be in a good mood.

The commotion that had risen after we had brought Dusk back had faded, replaced by the common quiet high alert that Pokemon Center's were known for but Spark and I eyed our trainer as he sighed "I... I don't know what you guys did or how you did it... but you found Dusk. I'm not happy that you went out by yourselves though. After... after the Asylum I'm just so worried about you guys being out by yourselves. I'm scared for you even though I shouldn't be. You are Pokemon, you can take care of yourselves... my job as a trainer is to help you along the way." started Jack in a solemn tone "You two are... amazing. You two, Ruby, and Ferne managed to find Dusk in one night. You've proven to me that you are more than capable and that I'm really not worthy to be your trainer."

Out of everything I thought Jack was going to say that was something I wasn't prepared for. The whole time I had been with him I always assumed that he thought of himself as a sort of parent to me... not some kind of guide.

My trainer smiled " I've got to go check up on Dexter and Crystal. Katherine and Desmond should be back from searching for Dusk at any moment now. I'm pretty sure Razor, Jolt, and Vapor are with them. I need you guys here alright?"

Spark and I nodded

"Great." spoke Jack as he stood up "I'm very impressed with you two, hopefully we can get some training in tomorrow." he waved "See you two later." And with that he left us to our thoughts.

"I guess he isn't mad?" said Spark with a smile.

I shrugged "How could he be, we just saved Dusk." I looked around "Speaking of Dusk, I feel like we should go check on her... you know make sure she's okay."

"We know she's okay, plus Ferne and Ruby are in there with her. I'm sure she's fine Night." replied the Pikachu as he reclined on the wall "I say we wait for Desmond and Katherine to show up."

Something in me needed to see Dusk, to make sure she was okay. It had only been a few days since I had met her but I felt the need to watch over her. She was taken when I knew she was in trouble, and I felt responsible for any pain she had been put through. I also can admit that I did like Dusk, at the very least as a friend. I felt attracted to her, the same way I felt about Ferne when I first met her in the forest.

Then another thought hit my mind, Ruby had also been hurt, I felt a terrible feeling in my chest, the same one I had felt in Pewter City after I had learned more about her. I had spent all of that time worrying about Dusk when Ruby was the one that was actually injured.

"Spark, can you do me a favor and stay here to watch for Desmond and Kat?" I asked, turning to Spark "I want to go see the girls."

Spark smirked, and nodded "Alright, go check on them if you really need to." he seemed to know why I was asking and silently agreed with me.

I smiled "Thank you Spark."

The Pikachu gave a quick salute "No problem buddy. Tell her I said hi."

* * *

Ruby's point of view

* * *

Everything hurt, and that is not an exaggeration. Whatever that stupid Ponyta had done to me it had done some serious damage. I tried to steady my breathing, but every breath brought stinging pain to me chest. My head pulsed with medication and I could feel my own body healing.

"Rubes... how are you feeling?" asked Night's voice, cutting through the void that was my shallow thoughts. I opened my eyes to look at the Umbreon and expected to be angry. But for some odd reason I wasn't. Seeing Night's red and black eyes glaring at me made me feel... better? I had known the Umbreon for around two weeks now and for the first time I looked at him and felt more alive. I couldn't believe it, I was actually happy to see that idiot

But I wasn't about to show it.

"What do think, I feel like crap. I think my ribs are broken and I'm so sore I can't move." my voice was hostile, perhaps because I didn't want him to know I appreciated his concern, I expected it.

He smiled "I'm sorry to hear that."

I looked to my side and saw Dusk sitting up in a bed a couple of feet away from me. I still didn't like her, and I still didn't forget about what she had done in Pallet Town... but I didn't hate the Purrloin anymore. Maybe I wasn't so glad that I had ended up more injured that her, but it was nice to see she was still alive.

Her crimson eyes flashed as she spoke "Ruby, I really want to thank you for trying to save me tonight."

I smirked "Than why don't you?"

Dusk sighed, getting the joke "You, Ferne, Night and Spark really did help me. I... I know you still don't like me and that I took a lot of guts for you to do what you did." she paused to smile "Thank you for that."

I waved a paw nonchalantly "It's fine." I instantly regretted that as pain shot up my arm, still had to remember I was still hurt.

"By the way, Ferne." I glanced over at the Leafeon. She was leaning on a wall close to me, her red bandanna resting around her neck.

Her ears perked up "Yeah, what's up Ruby?"

"There's something that's been bothering me, at lot. I usually don't pry into people's business or past since I don't care most of the time. But I have to ask... you seem to already have known Napoleon and Scarlet... and now that I think about it you already knew Dexter too. How... how do you know all these Pokemon?" I asked and hoped that she wouldn't react with anger.

To my amazement, she didn't. "I've lived a very eventful life Ruby and I've met many Pokemon. Some are reputable beings that try and help the world... some are not." She didn't even seem interested with my question "I'm sorry if that's not the answer you wanted though." she paused a moment "Dusk, Napoleon didn't do anything to hurt you did he?"

Dusk shook her head "No. To tell you the truth he and Scarlet did their best to let me know they wanted to keep me safe. Scarlet even had a quiet conversation with me about defending me if the Pikachu or the Meowth wanted to kill me."

"Do you remember the names of the Meowth or the Pikachu?" quickly responded Ferne, obviously gaining interest.

Dusk stroked her chin with a paw and had a moment of thought "I'm sure that the Pikachu's name was Claire... and I think the Meowth was White?"

I had no idea who either of those Pokemon were, but Night and Ferne seemed to react like they did.

"Claire was there?" interjected Night "What would she be there for?" he looked at Ferne "And who is White Ferne?"

The grass type didn't respond. Her brown eyes showed shock and for the first time I saw true fear come over her body. Whatever those names meant, they didn't mean something good.

"Ferne." sounded Night's voice again "Hello?"

The Leafeon snapped herself out of it "Yeah... I'm sorry. Night you already know Claire... but White's a different creature. He's... he's a Pokemon that you do not want to cross."

Night laughed "What, and Claire is?"

"No... but Claire won't just kill you. Not like White will. Claire kills because she wants to, because she doesn't like you. White kills for his mission. If that Meowth thinks that you are in the way of completing an objective, you're already dead." Ferne's voice was stern "Dusk, you're lucky you made it out of there alive."

"Wait." I said, wanting to get a word in "It sounds like you think Claire and White are they bad guys here, not Scarlet or Napoleon."

Ferne nodded "I'm sure that's the case. I've known Napoleon for years, and I know he'll do anything to protect Pokemon he cares about. Believe me, he cares about Scarlet. She's a confused Pokemon that made some mistakes, but she isn't a bad person." she eyed me "That's why it may not have been the best idea to egg her on Ruby."

I rolled my eyes "Whatever."

* * *

Spark's point of view

* * *

"I have to say Spark, I'm really impressed that you and the guys managed to save Dusk." said Razor with a wide smile "I can't say that's something I could have done."

"You were doing the same thing though." I replied with a shrug "We just got lucky and found her." I knew I was lying, but I wasn't sure how Azelf felt about me spreading information about him so I kept that part of the night on the down low.

Katherine and Desmond had returned with Jolt, Vapor, and Razor only a few minutes before. Needless to say, Katherine was ecstatic when she found out Dusk was safe and ran in to see her. Razor had done the same, and had returned to me. I guess he wasn't in the mood to talk with Ruby in her injured state.

"By the way, what were you doing before you showed up after the nightclub. We never saw you leave and you turned up in the morning." I smirked "What did you do, have a moment of reflexion?"

The Bulbasaur scratched his head with a vine "I- I... I met someone." He spat the words out like he thought I wouldn't catch them.

We were sitting in chairs in the Pokemon Center, and when he said that I leaned in closer to him "Someone nice?"

He shrugged "She was a nice person, and we had a nice talk."

"A girl?" I said with an upbeat tone "Do tell. I sense a romantic excursion."

"It was no excursion and it wasn't romantic. I met a nice girl by the name of-" he was cut off by the sound of the Pokemon Center doors opening. Without thought I looked to see who it was, expecting Jack. But what I saw was anything but my trainer.

I quickly recognized the white Pokemon with the gas cloud around it's neck as the Pokemon that had fought Night and I in the alleyway. Next to him was a Pokemon of similar size, but it had orange-gray eyes and metallic looking fur and ears. On their backs were Scarlet and Napoleon respectively both of them looked unconscious. Dried blood stains were on the white Pokemon's back and paws and the look on his face was frantic.

"-Scarlet." exhaled Razor, his mouth wide in surprise.

My chest tightened and I gripped my seat tight as I thought _'What happened to them after we left?'_


	89. Galactic Surge: Special Forces

Hey guys. I think I've said this before, but I wanted to make sure something plot advancing happens every chapter and I think this chapter accomplishes that. Hope you like it.

Question: Who do you think is the bigger threat: Team Rocket's "secret" team or Team Galactic's "secret" team?

* * *

_ "I-... I never met my parents, but they're most likley dead now. Besides them no one close to me has died, but I have needed to sever ties with a group of Pokemon I loved." _

Dexter- chapter 67

* * *

Dexter's point of view

* * *

"You're lying to me Dexter, I don't appreciate that." was Crystal's first response to my reveal. Her icy eyes showed no surprise and told me that she was speaking the truth.

I was disheartened to say the least. I knew that I was speaking the truth, I had spent a large amount of my life working for Team Galactic. My name was Requiem and at one point my only goal was to gain power and knowledge. Something about Crystal made me want to expose this, I liked her and at that point the only thing I wanted was for her to like me.

"Crystal I'm not lying." I took a step closer to her "Why would I lie about this, why would I tell you I used to work for Team Galactic if it was a lie?"

"I don't know..." he spoke softly as she started to understand my point "It doesn't make sense though. If you were with Galactic how did you not know where the Asylum was?"

"Because Galactic wouldn't tell everyone everything about their organization." I responded "Do you know where all of Team Rocket's bases are?"

"I still don't believe you." responded Crystal "You aren't the type to get involved with them. Dexter, back in Cerulean I saw a Pokemon that treated me with compassion and kindness. I don't want to think that was an act. I've seen what Team Galactic is willing to do to gain power and you just aren't the type to get involved with that."

She still thought I was lying, which meant I had to pull out my ace in the hole "I know about Red."

The Glaceon's eyes went wide after I spoke those words "What?" she said quietly.

"I know what happened ten years ago to Team Rocket Crystal. They were crippled by a young trainer by the name of Red. All of the Team Rocket admins... even Giovanni himself couldn't stop it from happening." my voice was strong, I knew I was telling the truth.

Crystal frowned "That isn't common knowledge, how do you know that Dexter?" She wasn't a part of Team Rocket anymore, but I was certain she still sympathetic with the organization that took her in.

"When Team Galactic first started to invade Rocket territory we tried to find Team Rocket's weakness. The most obvious one we could think of was the Pokemon Trainer that brought the Rockets to their knees. I'm not with Team Rocket Crystal, and if I wasn't a part of Team Galactic how would I know all of this?"

As if she finally understood Crystal's ears went limp and her eyes went wide. I saw her mouth quiver, then grow into a deep frown. "You... you..."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier Crystal." I said in hopes to console her.

The Glaceon looked down unto the floor "Who else knows about this Dexter?"

"As of now, you and Ferne."

"So you told her before you told me?" she demanded.

I shook my head "No, we have a past. I know a lot about her and she knows a lot about me."

Suddenly Crystal grabbed my chest and pushed me into the wall. The hotel room shook as my back slammed against the room. Crystal's eyes beamed at me "You think that telling me that you were in Team Galactic is going to make me trust you more?"

"No..." I said with a sigh "I just felt like it was time I told someone."

"So those old friends that you were telling me about on the road-"

"Yes, they were my squad while I was in Team Galactic."

Crystal let go of me and I fell into a sitting position. I felt like my fragile relationship with Crystal was done, there was no way she was going to even talk to me knowing that I was part of a group that was trying to destroy everything she had worked most of her life to achieve I looked up at her with a look of anticipation on my face, awaiting her reaction.

"I-" started the Glaceon before sighing, then smiling "I'm glad that you respect me enough to tell the truth about this Dexter. I can't imagine the stress you had to go through to tell me that." she paused and let her smile grow bigger "You saved my life in Cerulean City Dexter, and I can't forget that. You joined Team Galactic and I joined Team Rocket but that doesn't really matter anymore."

Standing up I felt her head come closer to mine. Her mouth came close to my ears and she said "I'll keep your secret."

Before I could thank her my trainer barged into the room with a goofy smile on his face. Crystal and I turned to look at him as he said "Dusk has been found guys, come with me to the Pokemon Center, we're spending the night there."

I sighed "Great... why even use the hotel room?"

* * *

Razor's point of view

* * *

My chest felt hollow when I saw the state Scarlet was in. I could only see a part of her body, but it was clear that she had lost a lot of blood. Dried maroon stained the back of the white Pokemon carrying her and her breathing was very shallow. I couldn't imagin how the had been hurt, but I felt the need to help her.

The Pokemon carrying her had the look of an Umbreon, but white and without rings. It's matted fur seemed to be composed of poison barbs similar to a poisonous caterpillar. It had shallow violet eyes and an exhausted look on it's face. Next to it was another Pokemon that was about the same size, but seemed to have ears and a tail made of thick metal wire. The second Pokemon's fur seemed to be formed by straightened steel wool. It had dull rust colored eyes that scanned the room.

Spark jumped into action after he saw the white Pokemon "What are you doing with them?" His voice made it sound like he knew creature.

The Pokemon frowned "Does it really matter right now." he looked at the nurse, who had frozen upon his entering "We need some help here, Scarlet's dying!"

'Dying?' I thought as my heart started to beat faster.

"Oh my gosh-" spoke the nurse quietly before calling out "I need some help here! Now!"

My body froze just like it did in the Asylum when Ruby had been knocked out. I felt so useless as the medical staff held Scarlet, and then Napoleon in their arms. As they rushed pass me I caught a glimpse of Scarlet's face. She was unconscious, her eyes were closed and her mouth was agape and smeared with blood. I didn't know how badly she was hurt, but I did know that those two Pokemon at the door had something to do with it.

"Who are you, are you following us?" spoke Spark in anger as he approached the two bizarre Pokemon "What did you do to Scarlet and Napoleon?"

"Nothing." replied the white one "In fact I would think that you and your friends hurt them more than we did tonight."

Interested I stepped in "What's he talking about Spark?"

"He's talking about how this Pikachu, the Umbreon, the Vulpix and the Leafeon had a little tussle with Napoleon and Scarlet tonight." spoke the steel type Pokemon "What? Did he not tell you?"

I little shocked I turned to Spark "Is this true?"

The Pikachu frowned as he looked at me"We... we had a small fight, but she wasn't injured." he turned back to the strange Pokemon "That's why I think you two had something to do with this." he pointed at the white one "You were following me and Night before and now you show up with Napoleon and Scarlet, both of them knocked out?"

The steel Pokemon moved in to his partner "We don't have time for this Acid."

"You're right." responded the white Umbreon like Pokemon. They weren't even bothering to whisper "I'm sorry but we'll have to keep our time here short. I know you can't trust us now, but we are not the bad guys. We're here to help you."

"Help us with what?" questioned yours truly.

"Arceus." quickly replied the Pokemon before darting off into the night with his partner.

"Arceus?" I asked before turning to Spark "What are they talking about?"

Spark's fists clenched tight "I... I have to go tell Night about this."

I raised a brow "And what about the others? You were just going to not tell me about Napoleon and Scarlet tonight... how do I know you aren't hiding something now?"

Spark sighed "Look, Razor..."

"No you look Spark." I replied, trying not to sound angry "I want to trust you and I want to think we have each others backs, but things have been going on that you know that I don't... big things. I haven't known you for long, but I hoped I'd be able to say you've been honest with me. If you know something about Arceus, tell me. Please."

The Pikachu ran his hands through the fur on his head "It's not my place to tell you Razor... that's all I can say." there was a slightly uncomfortable feel in his voice, like he didn't like was he was saying "Hopefully all of this can be revealed in good time."

I was about to say something back to him, but after hearing his tone I thought that he was remorseful and felt like he couldn't tell me. I sighed and looked into the back of the Pokemon Center "I'm going to check on Ruby and Dusk... and maybe check on Scarlet when I can."

"I think I'll join you." spoke Spark with a smile "I'm tired of sitting up here with everyone in the back."

* * *

Ferne's point of view

* * *

"Scarlet and Napoleon are in the Pokemon Center?" I demanded after Razor had told me what he had seen "What happened to them?"

"We don't know." spoke Spark with his arms crossed "All we know is that two weird looking Pokemon brought them here." he eyed Night "One of them was the Pokemon that attacked us in the alleyway."

Night nodded "So it looks like they did it."

"I don't think so." I said looking around the room "If they did hurt Scarlet and Napoleon why would they bring them to the Pokemon Center?"

"What are you guys talking about?" suddenly sounded the voice of Katherine. I had completely forgotten that Katherine and my trainer were in the room with us. Our human companions were so ignorant of what was going on I had almost ignored them for the last couple of hours. But I knew there was no way they knew the details of what we were talking about so I continued "Spark you told us they they were a part of Team Rocket?"

The Pikachu nodded "Yeah, I noticed they had the R on their belts."

"So now the question is, why would Team Rocket want to save Scarlet?" I asked.

Actually..." quietly said Dusk from her bed "When I was speaking to her she told me that she had something to do with the Asylum being taken down."

"So it would make sense that the Rockets would want to protect her if she's made herself an enemy of Team Galactic." spoke up Jolt before looking at Dusk "By the way, how are you feeling?"

The Purrloin smiled "In fine, thank you." she eyed Ruby "I think Ruby got it worse than me."

"Don't any of you feel bad for me!" shouted the Vulpix suddenly "I only fractured a rib, no big deal."

"You broke one of your ribs?" asked Razor as he took a step towards her "Are you sure you're fine?"

"I'm fine Ra-" started Ruby before she paused "...Ow. See what you made me do Razor, now I'm sore."

Night chuckled "You hurt yourself yelling at someone, I'll have to remember that one."

* * *

Point of view ?

* * *

When you make a plan, it's common that things don't always go the way you want them to. Who could have possibly predicted Napoleon being forced to kidnap someone to save Scarlet. Who would have guessed that the Pokemon Napoleon was going to kidnap was part of the group that escaped our Asylum. And I can't tell you who would thought that one of Team Rocket's best squads was in the city all of this was going on.

Oh, wait... I did.

I sighed as I looked out at the Pokemon Center that Napoleon and Scarlet had just been brought into. You don't know me, which is fine. I know that you've been told about me. I am, for all intensive purposes, a Bulbasaur. But I have a few features that make me more noticeable. Some may call it fur, but it isn't. Across the surface of my skin were thin greenish blue barbs, each of them filled with poison of course. I had a headset that conformed to my head and an equipment belt around my waist.

"Ivy, it's good to see you again!" blurted out a familiar voice.

I sighed "Blitzkrieg." before turning around "Have you forgotten your training? Don't be so loud."

The Raichu standing before me raised his paws in a defensive fashion and laughed "Whoa, no need to be so mean." Blitzkrieg was a fairly young Raichu and the newest member of my squad. His large brown eyes were filled with excitement, the kind of excitement that comes with being naive. I didn't dislike Blitzkrieg, but he was no prince. His sleek form came closer to me and his long tail waved behind me.

"I'm on a recon assignment, I need to figure out when I can deal with the Umbreon." I responded.

"Sounds like you want to kill him Ive." laughed Blitzkrieg.

"Don't call me that. Ever." I said as my anger spiked for some reason. When I heard that word something in me ticked. But I was on assignment, and I had no time for stupid things like emotions "I'm sorry... and I'm not going to kill him, the Mother wouldn't want that. I just need him to know who we are and that the Asylum was a one time failure."

"Alright." spoke my Raichu partner "No more Ive, hows about P-Ivy?"

I rolled my eyes "Yeah sure, that's fine." I looked back at the Pokemon Center and nearly fainted at what I saw. It had been years since I had seen the Pokemon last. His mannerisms had changed and he had a different walk, but he still looked the same. His blue eyes stung me deep and I remembered all the anger that I had stored for him. My fury was so great my limbs started to shake and with great disdain I muttered the name of my previous squad leader.

"Requiem... what a lucky find this has been."


	90. Galactic Surge: Aftermath

This is more of an in between chapter, sort of a way to finish off their day with a little peacefulness. I'm sorry for all of the villains too, I can get how they can be hard to keep track of. If you ever have questions feel free to send me a pm or say it in a review.

And now for the question: Do you think Darkrai is evil?

Thanks for reading and I really hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

The first thing I remember after waking up was the strong, almost overwhelming feeling of regret. Something had gone terribly wrong after I blacked out; I could just tell. My eyes opened to the blinding white light of the Pokemon Center, giving me a strong shock to the system. Taking a quick look around I saw that I was on a bed in a room by myself. Quickly giving myself a once over I was relived to see that I was still in one piece.

Moving my attention to Scarlet I decided to find out what happened to her and get rid of the sick feeling in my gut. Jumping out of bed I realized something, I was nude. My shirt, tie, and belt were just gone leaving me with the standard look of a regular Snivy. Shrugging it off made my way to the closed door.

The cold ground in the hallway woke me up and made me more alert. After surveying my surroundings I found I was in a moderately long white hallway with several doors on either side.

"I guess I'll just have to check all of them..." I said with a sigh.

As I started searching my I was bombarded by a feelings of regret and shame. Dusk had been put in danger because of me, a Pokemon that was innocent in all of this. She had gotten her life together and had a plan and because of my stupid selfishness and blind loyalty to Scarlet she almost died in that warehouse. As I opened the first door knew that I not only had to check on Scarlet, but I would need to make sure that Purloin was okay

Of course when the door opened I saw that I was not in the right place. I could tell that it was much later in the night because they were all asleep, but they were still the group of Pokemon that I had fought earlier that evening. The first face I noticed was the Umbreon, Night I think his name was, resting only a couple of feet away from me. I guess seeing him triggered something in my head because the moment my eyes caught him a dull pain reappeared around where his shadow ball had hit me. I had no anger towards him though, if someone had kidnapped Scarlet I would lose it too.

After looking around some more I saw Jane sleeping the ground with her back facing me. I was about to leave when I noticed Dusk resting on one of the beds. She looked so peaceful and calm sleeping there and I felt a bizarre feeling, like I needed to be with her. She was in this state because of me, it only made sense for me to make amends. My urge to walk in even more wasn't strong enough and I convinced myself that I would find her later.

"Napoleon..." spoke a human voice behind me. I turned around quickly to see a human male standing over me. The first thing I noticed was his black and red hair and his friendly expression. It took me a second but I remembered seeing him with Dusk and the others before. He must've been one of the trainers in their little group. "You're supposed to be resting in your room."

I wasn't in the mood to be questioned, so I ignored him and looked down the hallway to see if I could fine Scarlet's room.

"You're trying to find Scarlet aren't you?" asked the human.

He caught my attention with that remark. I glared at him "Tell me."

"I'll tell you under one condition." replied the human, responding to my question perfectly. He knelt down so that our eyes were leveled "I want to challenge you to a battle."

I frowned and after a moment of thought I nodded. I was sure this trainer wouldn't be a treat to me. Jane and her little crew ambushed me at a bad moment and I wasn't ready for them, but I knew I could take on any challenge he could muster up. The only thing that mattered in that moment was finding my best friend and I was willing to promise him a chance to battle me.

He stood up and pointed to a room down the hallway "She's in there, I hope she's alright."

After giving him a quick salute I moved to the door with apprehension Something just told me she wasn't alright and part of me didn't want to open the door. But she needed me, now more than ever, to tell her that everything was done and she would be safe. I could feel my heart beating in my chest as I touched the doorknob. My fingers trembled and my breathing was uneven.

In a burst of energy I chose to get over myself and open the door. The knob turned and the door opened wide. I took my first steps into the room towards the only occupied bed. I couldn't see her, but I could see the blue light emitting from her flames. The sounds of machines beeping filled my ears as I eyed multiple IVs going to and from packets beside her. With a gulp I continued to move forward until I could see her face.

The first thing I noticed was a large bandage warped around her chest with a maroon stain in the middle. She had been bleeding bad enough for them to wrap it up, that wasn't good. Moving up I saw that dried blood also had caked itself on a few hairs on her neck and muzzle. Her eyes were closed peacefully, but her breathing was sporadic and seemed forced.

"Scarlet..." I said softly "What... what happened to you."

"She was in worse shape when you two were brought here." sounded Jane's voice from behind me "I'm amazed she didn't die."

I smiled and without turning around I said "I was certain you were asleep."

I felt her come closer to me and stand at my side "Then I guess getting your butt kicked made you lose your edge."

"Jane I'm hoping that you guys didn't have anything with her getting hurt like this..." I said trembling a little.

"Look at me Napoleon." spoke the Leafeon with a tone so serious it almost didn't sound like her. Our eyes locked and I remembered the years that I knew her while we were training under the master "I don't know who hurt Scarlet like this, but I'm telling you that my group had nothing to do with it."

"I believe you..." I looked at Scarlet "But... I can't believe this." I felt tears forming in my eyes, but I held them back "She..."

"Napoleon, you do understand that all of this is partly your fault right? sounded Jane.

"You think I don't know that Jane?" I asked with a bit of a tone "I know this is all because of me and my selfishness. I've heard it from myself enough, I don't need it from you."

Jane grabbed on to her red bandanna and sighed "I wish you'd stop calling me that, my name's Ferne now."

"What, you ashamed of Jane or something?" I asked snidely with a bit of anger.

"I'm going to bed, and you should do the same." sounded the leafeon, cutting the conversation off there "Scarlet's going to be fine and stressing over her won't do anyone any good."

I nodded "Fine, have a good night J-... Ferne." I corrected myself as I gave her a casual salute "See you in the morning."

As the door closed behind my ex-lover I turned back to Scarlet feeling like an empty shell. I couldn't go back to my room, I couldn't just leave her. I had known her my whole life and had always been there to help her. She had been hurt because of my weakness and I was going to make sure that when she woke up she wouldn't be alone.

* * *

Acid's point of view

* * *

"I don't even think I need to say it, but you two do understand how amazingly stupid and short minded your choices were tonight right?" spoke Amethyst in an icy cold dagger of a tone. She stood in the empty building that we had set up our operations in the city and my brother and I had just told her about our actions "It's like you don't understand that you are _not _supposed to be seen by _anyone." _The feline's dark red eyes had no anger in them but I could feel the air of disappointment emitting from her body.

"We understood that Scarlet was going to die if we didn't get involved." said my brother, taking a step towards her "We made the executive decision to not let her bleed out on the ground.

"If this operation fails because you felt bad for some little heiress..." started Amethyst.

"If will have been worth it if it shows people that Team Rocket is back, and they're for the people now." I sounded with a strong tone.

The Delcatty rolled her tired eyes "Whatever, do what you want on missions. It won't hurt me." she have a large yawn "At least you saved her life right?"

"I think we did." responded Rust with a slight smile.

She looked out a window "Well that's nice then. I'm going to get some rest, the master will be here tomorrow and I want to be ready to give him our reports."

I raised a brow "For the Asylum operation? I thought those weren't supposed to be done for another week."

Amethyst shrugged "Then I guess I finished them early." I knew what that meant, she had spend all day compiling reports and papers. It was easy for me to forget it, but Amethyst was the backbone to our squad. Yes my brother and I did most of the combat and field operations, but without Amethyst to give us relevant information and guide use through every process that we would have to do... I doubt even half of our missions would be success. That Delcatty's one hell of a worker, and I reminded myself to give her more of the respect that she deserved.

"Okay, I think you're right Amethyst. We all had long days, time to rest up." said Rust before eyeing me "And by the time we wake up, our trainer will be in the city."

* * *

Scarlet's point of view

* * *

My eyes opened and I saw that I was back in the everlasting black that belonged to Darkrai. Purple and grey danced around me as the feelings of fear and desperation that normally accompanied a visit from the dark one faded from my body. I wasn't sure if I was dead or not, but I wasn't about to be a scared little girl in the face of adversity.

I took in a deep breath and said "Darkrai I don't know why you keep dragging me back in here."

"Do I sense annoyance in your tone?" boomed the legendary Pokemon's voice all around me "You should be careful how you talk to me."

"Or what?" I replied in the same displeased tone "You'll kill me?"

The moment after I stopped talking he appeared before me, his deep blue eyes directly in my face. Startled I jump back slightly but did my best to keep my composure "You're finally starting to grow some confidence, outstanding."

"You haven't answered my question Darkrai." I responded, not even addressing what he had spoken.

"I've already told you child, you have my interest. So much that it makes me excited. You've been stabbed and you should have died, and I was ready to make sure you stayed alive... but I didn't even need to.."

I frowned "What do you mean dear?"

Darkrai floated back several feet laughing "Your will to survive kept you alive, you defied death. All that is needed is for you and your other half to join forces and... and." His laughter grew darker.

"And then the world will tremble with what you will be able to accomplish."


	91. Galactic Surge: A Meeting of the Gods

A slightly shorter chapter here, but I think it's worth it since I banged this one out quicker that usual. A good amount of informtion this time, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Question, and this time it's more of just an writing opinion thing, :What do you think of Amethyst's, Rust's and Acid's trainer? Good choice? Bad Choice? Feel free to tell me.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Crystal's point of view

* * *

"Well, it looks like I'm the first one awake." I said with a sigh as I looked around the Pokemon Center room. The morning sun cracked through the windows and tattered the clean tile floor. My allies slept around the room and for the first time in a long time it looked like everything was looking alright.

I wasn't feeling well and it was no mystery to me why. I couldn't cry about it anymore, but the lost of my trainer still brought sadness to my mind. The remnants of the massive amount of depression I had felt only several days before were gone and were being replaced by a want for revenge and anger. I was done feeling sorry for myself, because by then I had started to hate myself for letting her d own. I hated that I wasn't there to protect her and that I wasn't able to find her... but most of all I hated the fact that I knew the resistance had something to do with it and had just let them go.

Shaking my head I forced myself to look to the future and not kill myself with negative thoughts. I didn't feel like falling back asleep so I made the choice to take a little walk around the Pokemon Center. After stepping over Jolt and Vapor I was in the hallway.

The Pokemon Center hallway was less friendly than the rooms apparently, because I quickly found that the hallways had no windows and all the light came from artificial sources. It felt colder, but being an ice-type I found it to be more comfortable.

"Now, where to go?" I said to myself before eyeing an open door. Shrugging I assumed there were worse places to spend my time and made my way to the open passage.

However before I could actually get to the door a crestfallen Snivy with a gnarly bruise on its cheek stepped out of the room. He sighed before catching sight of me and frowning "What, did you want to go in?"

"Not anymore..." I replied with a slight smile "Are... are you okay?"

The grass type turned his back to me "I've been better... " he yawned a tired yawn and scratched his side.

My eyes went between him and the still open door as I asked "Someone in there that you care about?"

The Snivy turned his head just enough so I could see one of his crimson eyes "Why would you care?"

"I've lost someone I cared about, and I felt alone when I did. Maybe you just need a stranger to-"

"She's not dead." sounded the Snivy with a dark sounding voice "Scarlet's fine."

I relaxed my body as I realized who I was talking to "You're not as recognizable without your clothing Napoleon."

At the mention of his name the Snivy turned all the way around to face me. His face was still dreary, but his expression was more active "Do I know you?"

I shook my head "No, but I know you. A lot of Pokemon know you."

He sighed "Good, I've had enough people from my past scare me this week." he paused "You said you've lost someone you cared about?"

"Yes." I said, feeling a little pain in my chest as I did.

"Recently?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"No you're not." I said with a sad smile "But I'm thankful that you care enough to lie to me"

I got a little laugh from Napoleon with that last comment, which made me feel a little less terrible. The Snivy then sighed and looked into the room to a bed I couldn't see.

"Is she okay?"

"I already told you." responded the Snivy with a saddened tone "She's fine."

"What happened to her?" I asked "All I know is that she was brought in last night in critical condition."

"She was hurt... by what I don't know." from his tone I could tell he was growing tired, if it was from the conversation or the situation I couldn't tell.

"Well, if I find any information I'll be sure to tell you if possible. Right now I think I'll head to the lobby, maybe get a little thinking in."

The Snivy gave a salute without taking his eyes off the bed "I hope it's fruitful."

"I hope she's fine, if it means anything ."

Napoleon laughed "It doesn't," he eyed me "But the concern is appreciated."

* * *

Azelf's point of view

* * *

When I had accepted Celebi's invitation to his forest it was within my understanding that it would be for us to have a conversation about the events that had unfolded the last several days. But as I stood in his forest with the morning sun hitting my skin I was more than displeased at his dishonest ploy.

"What's the big deal Azelf." spoke Celebi with a smile "I'm here to talk, isn't that what you wanted."

I pouted (something unfit for a thousand-year old being but whatever) and said " Yes, but I had no idea you'd be inviting _them_."

"I'm offended Azelf " spoke Shaymin in a sarcastic tone "Darkrai and I came here because we thought talking with one of Arceus's right hand assistants could help move things along." The grass/flying type barley ever left her sky form so her wings ejected from her back even though she was on the ground. Her green eyes glared at me, she knew how much distress she was causing me and liked it.

"And you can't _still_ be mad at me for the Umbreon incident." spoke up Darkrai as he crossed his arms . His large blue eyes told stories of pain and darkness, stories that I was in no mood to be reminded of. "You and I both know why I did what I did."

"You took away another Pokemon's freedom!" I shouted back as I tightened my fists "You violated Arceus's laws!"

"First of all Azelf, I don't follow Arceus. She is not my leader and she has no power over me. Second, that Umbreon came to me for power and knew what he needed to give up to obtain that power." responded Darkrai without emotion "Now that cleared up," he turned to Celebi "Can we discus the issues at hand?

Celebi eyed me and sent me a little psychic message _'Calm down Azelf.' _before nodded "Of course. This really invovles you most of all Darkrai, but I called the rest of you because you all have something to do with it." he sighed before continuing "Yesterday Mew had a little talk with me, and in that talk he told me that Arceus is still in bad shape but also said that she has an issue-" he eyed Darkrai "With your children. " then he turned to me "And the silver fox."

I was about to say something, but Darkrai beat me to the punch "Of course she would have a problem with my daughters." he emitted a low laugh "They scare her ."

"Don't talk about Arceus like that Darkrai." I said before turning to Celebi "What problem would she have with Ruby, we don't even know if she is the silver fox ."

"Mew said that he's sure of it." sounded Celebi "And she isn't afraid of them alone, she's afraid that if they worked together they could undermine the balance of the world."

Darkrai's smile was obvious after that line "And how could that happen." the anticipation in his voice was evident.

Celebi crossed his arms "Because if they joined forces they could have a power that we won't be able to stop."

"I'm sorry." spoke up Shaymin as she raised a paw "I have no idea why I'm here, how does any of this involve me?"

"Because Shaymin... and Azelf you won't like this, you've been tasked with helping Azelf get the rescue party to the elite four." replied Celebi.

"No way!" yelled the grass/flying type before she looked at me "We get to work together again huh Azelf? Just like old times!"

I gritted my teeth "Yeah..." I looked at Celebi "Is that all Celebi?"

"No one more thing." spoke Celebi darkly . His whole tone changed, like he realized what he was about to say was important "The dogs have made it very clear that they're going after the Umbreon and his group now, which means that you and Shaymin will always have to be on guard . Without you to help, that group's as good as dead."

"So I'm here to help because Azelf by himself couldn't take all the dogs on at once." sounded Shaymin actually sounding concerned. She nodded and looked at me " Then I'm glad to be able to help Azey ."

I frowned "Don't call me that. I was on my way to see then now, you should come. " I said before turning around "Most of them are asleep and I think it's time I tell all of them the situation at hand. "

* * *

Amethyst's point of view

* * *

"He should be here by now," I said to my self as I leaned next to the open window of the deserted building I had sleeping "And I've never known him to be late."

I turned around to glared at my sleeping comrades and sighed, it seemed that I was the only one who would be awake when our trainer managed to find his way to us.

"Perhaps I could have sent better directions .. or perhaps he's doing this on purpose." I looked back out the window and gave a weak laugh "He know's how much this means to me, that bastard better get here soon." I of course use that term in a loving fashion. Even though I wasn't his starting Pokemon and even though I didn't grow up with him my trainer always made a point to make sure I knew he cared about me. And after the hell that my childhood had been having him to look to for guidance was everything I needed.

"This is the best building Team Rocket could find for you, I guess they still have some work to do."

My heart almost stopped as his voice hit my ears for the first time in months.

Without turning around I couldn't help but smile "Ma-" I stopped myself and laughed a little. Turning around to face him I saw how little he had changed. Being second in command he had no need to wear Team Rocket apparel and wore a dark blue long sleeve shirt and faded black pants. His long red hair came to an end at his collar and shot up in several short spikes and his red eyes stared at me with emotion. I sighed "Sorry, I know you hate it when I call you that Silver ."

He raised his hand "It's fine, everyone has their shortcomings Amethyst. Luckily your's are insignificant."

I walked towards him "How was your trip? "

He shrugged "Not too bad, I just came from Johto so it's no big problem." He put his hands in his pockets "I just wanted to check in to make sure you know that I'm in the city. I'm going to check on the target in the Pokemon Center to see if anything's up."

I frowned unsure about his plan "What if they see you?"

"It won't be a big deal, as long as they don't know I'm connected to you it won't jeopardize the mission." he sighed "When Rust and Acid wake up be sure to tell them I'll be back by noon, can you do that for me."

"I like to think I can accomplish menial tasks like that." I said with a nod "We can talk when you get back."

Silver gave a stern nod and a salute "Outstanding, with us at the helm of this operation my father's pitiful organization just might get something done.


	92. Galactic Surge: Truth and Lies

Ugh, I really have no excuse for the wait except my pure lazyness. I had a bunch of school stuff to finish up, but now I'm done and I can dedicate more time to my story that I love. By the way it's getting around May 14th, which means that The Dark Chronicles is having it's 3 year aniversary! Yay! Once again I want to thank all you girls and guys for reading and being so engaging, asking me questions and giving me your theory for what's actually going on. I love them and I hope you keep sending them.

Anyway since this is now year three I want to do something that I've only done once before. You can ask me any question about the story, anything at all, and I will give you a well thought out and deep hint to your answer (of course I can't tell you, that ain't my style!) Of course it can't be stuff like "Who wins in the end." and "Why is Spark's scarf blue?" But anything else is fair game. But a little twist too, cus I can't just give hints out for free. To get a hint you need to tell me your favorite character and give reals reasons why. So to give you a negative example you can't say "I like Night because Umbreons are soo cool" and think you'll get a hint. I need a real reason and if you can squeeze a quote in there I'll give you an even better hint!

Or of course you could just review the chapter, whatever you feel like doing :D

So without further adoo, the new chapter.

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

"What the what?" I said without much else to say. Instantly I could tell I was not in the Pokemon Center. An endless field of grass went off in every direction and an unnatural sun stood in the sky, illuminating everything. All the Pokemon I was traveling with, from Spark to Jolt, were scattered around the landscape and all of them looked just about as confused as me.

"Umbreon?" sounded my sister as her blue fur shimmered in the light. I turned to see her standing only a few feet away "What... what's going on?"

I frowned and looked around "I have no idea Vaporeon... I wish I could tell you."

"Well, one thing's for sure..." sounded Ruby, who was standing up fine and appeared to be free of injury "We aren't in the physical world, because I feel perfect." She looked at me "Would that mean we're in someone's mind or something?"

"I don't know." I responded quickly.

"Wait, what?" sounded Jolt's voice "In someone's mind, is there something you know that I don't?"

"I think so." said Razor eyeing Spark "Last night some Pokemon mentioned Arceus to Spark and he seemed to know what they were talking about."

"Someone talked to you about Arceus last night?" I asked, almost ignoring Razor "What did they say?"

"Wait a second, what does Arceus have to do with this." sounded Dusk "What's going on here, Spark do you know that we don't."

"Okay, everyone calm down." boomed Dexter's voice, he wasn't yelling but from the way his tone reverberated against the endless landscape. His stark blue eyes glared at all of us before he sighed "Let's all figure out where we are first, then we can all talk about what we know. Because I don't know about you, but I'm in no mood to be in some realm other than my own."

"My sentiment exactly Dexter, it's nice to see we think alike!" spoke a feminine voice that seemed to echo less than ours. Needless to say it drew all of our attention and surprised even me. At least I saw an old friend standing next to the very bizarre looking unknown Pokemon. It was a small four legged white and green creature with large white ears and a snarky smile on it's face

"Azelf!" I yelled with excitement as I took a step forward "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, okay sure just ignore me..." said the white Pokemon with a sarcastic tone (not as good as mine but good enough to be mentioned)

"Azelf and Shaymin..." spoke Jolt quietly, almost like he was struggling to get the words out "You..." he turned to me "Night you know legendary Pokemon?"

"Not just him." sounded Azelf "Spark, Ruby, Ferne, Dexter and Crystal know about me. I apologize in advance to you Jolt." he eyed my sister and Razor "And you two as well... I just never had the chance to talk to you before."

"Night, how long have you known about Azelf?" asked my sister with a sense of betrayal in her voice. To be honest her feelings were understandable, I had known about Arceus and the legendary Pokemon for around two weeks and had kept it a secret even though it involved her.

Before I could respond to her Azelf spoke up again "That's not important now, all of you need to know what's really going on now and it's about time I tell you."

"Would it have to do with Arceus in anyway?" demanded Razor "Not to sound annoyed, but I'm tired of feeling like I'm living outside the bubble."

Azelf nodded and crossed his arms "I understand how you feel Razor, which is why we're here now." sounded Azelf "It's kind off a long story, so I suggest you get comfortable."

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

_'This is all my fault, none of this would have happened without me'_

Those words ran through my mind as I glared at Scarlet's current condition. Her breathing was still uneven and worried me greatly. The dried blood still stained parts of her fur and her eyes were still closed. I had made up my mind to trust Jane, she didn't have any reason to lie to me and she wasn't the type to attack Scarlet with a blade.

I sighed as I tightened my fists, I had to stop worrying about her. The nurses had everything covered and me standing over her wasn't necessary.

Just when I was about to leave the room I felt a familiar presence around me, as a small gush of wind from the outside. I reached for my blade, but had forgotten that it was still in my room along with the rest of my equipment. Still I turned to face the intruder and when I saw him I felt a true and deep anger in my gut.

"Black..." sounded my voice as I eyed the black Vulpix. He stood in the now open windowsill, his brown eyes glaring at me and his cloths flapping from the wind behind him. Frowning deeply I said "If you're going to kill her, this is your best chance."

The fox stood in the window in silence simply scanning me up and down. There didn't seem to be any emotion on his face, no anger but a lack of care "I'm amazed that she survived my attack last night."

Rage boiled in my gut as those words hit my ears. Not only had Black tried to kill Scarlet in her apartment he also tried to do it when I was out of commission. That worthless piece of crap had tried to kill my friend twice and was talking about it like I wasn't even there.

Keeping my anger in check I sighed "You need to leave her alone Black."

He looked at me "I have things to deal with now Napoleon, things bigger than Scarlet. I won't bother her anymore... but I still suggest you leave her."

"The same way I suggest you leave the Resistance, so I guess we can agree to disagree." I replied, still furious at my old friend.

"Except the Resistance isn't a spoiled bra-" started Black before I lost it. I was so tired of letting him talk about Scarlet like that and wasn't about to take it anymore. Swiftly I lifted my first and crushed him in the face as hard as I could. No doubt the fox didn't see it coming and fell back with a stagger. Jacket shifted and his eyes glared at me in shock "And you're still angry at me?"

"Of course I am you asshole!" I shouted, not even aware of Scarlet anymore. "You dare to come into _my _city and try to kill _my _best friend twice. You spout all of this bullcrap about The Resistance Movement trying to help Pokemon and free them while Humans and Pokemon are disappearing all over the region because of them." I took a step forward "I never want to see you again, ever. If I do I swear I'll kill you Black, I swear."

The Vulpix stared at me and as he did I saw pain, but I didn't care. I had seen that look in Scarlet's eyes too and I felt worse for her. He turned around "You sound like me when I came to you earlier this week with that ultimatum..." he looked out the window he had come in "Well, when you want to talk you know just talk to the master."

"Leave, now." my voice was stern and without mercy.

"Fine, I will." he turned his head and before leaving through the window he said "I'll see you again one day Napoleon."

* * *

Crystal's point of view

* * *

I festered in my own self induced loneliness on a chair as I peaked outside the Pokemon Center's glass doors. I saw Humans and Pokemon going on about their days without care or worry. They seemed to happy to be alive and full of energy while I on the other hand felt half dead. In my mind I knew that I wasn't the first to ever lose someone that they loved and I was certain I wasn't going to be the last... but at that moment I didn't know how to handle it. I wasn't suicidal, I was to proud to ever kill myself, but I was solemn and cold.

I started to think about what Dexter had told me, about him being a part of Team Galactic and about fighting against Team Rocket. I knew in my heart that he wasn't lying, and that was the worst part. What kind of life had he lived, and what could happen if that life came back to confront him. It was something that I didn't like, but if he was willing to come clean about it I knew I could trust him. All I had to do was keep it a secret, something I was more than happy to do for him.

Perhaps I would be able to do the same thing with Team Rocket. I didn't want them to be a part of my identity anymore and if Dexter was able to leave Galactic and continue to live his life than it was possible for me as well.

I had stopped paying attention to the things around me, but when I heard the automated Pokemon Center doors open I sprung to attention. When I spotted the human's red hair I felt my blood run cold. I thought I could leave Team Rocket behind and they would just disappear but as I saw the second of command just walze into the Pokemon Center I knew that to be false. Silver still looked the same as I remembered, spiky red hair and sharp crimson eyes with pale skin. His walk was more relaxed, but still displayed the power that he possessed.

At first he didn't notice me, why would he? I was just the Pokemon of a low level grunt. But as he took a quick glance at me I saw his eyes light up, like he had been looking for something valuable and had just discovered it. I looked down and turned myself away from him, but his footsteps just got closer. "You're the Glaceon that left Team Rocket 4 days ago." he said it like he was stating a fact as opposed to asking "I know that you know who I am, and I need you to do me a favor alright?"

I looked at him, shaking in fear at the knowledge of what the man was capable of and nodded.

"Tell your friends that Team Rocket is with them, and that they have nothing to fear from us as long as they do what Azelf says." he spoke like his words were all meaningful, and they were "And listen to Mew, because he's the only one that knows what's going on here." And with that he stood up, nodded at me, and left the Pokemon Center without another word.

* * *

Razor's point of view

* * *

"Wait... so you're telling me that it's _our _job to save Arceus? A group of ragtag Pokemon that have spend a couple of weeks together was tasked to save the life of the most important Pokemon in the world?" I said absolutely flabbergasted by Azelf and Shaymin's news. I glared at the two legendary Pokemon standing before me, both of them looking very genuine and serious.

"Are things really that bad for Arceus?" sounded Dexter in an uncharacteristically worried tone. He frowned "And why wait so long to say this? I wouldn't know about it if I hadn't of read Night's mind... what's with all the mystery surrounding her?"

"Dexter calm down." said Ferne "They've told us so now we all know what's going on."

"I can't believe it, I knew that I wanted to end up at the Elite Four but I had no idea that if we didn't Arceus would-" started Jolt, but cutting himself off.

"And now that you know that we have something else to tell you." said Shaymin with a smile as she looked over to Azelf "Isn't that right?"

Azelf sighed "Yep. Night do you remember when I talked with you before you entered Vermilion?"

The Umbreon nodded "Yeah, about Napoleon and Scarlet."

"And a Bulbasuar... a very dangerous one. She's getting together a plan and your life is in danger-" Azelf looked up at all of us "All of your lives are in danger."

A short laugh emitted from Dusk as the Purrloin smirked "What else is new?"

Azelf frowned "This isn't a joke."

Dusk shrugged "Sorry if I seem a little lethargic, last night I was sure I was going to die for the 3rd time this week..." she paused for a moment before having what looked like a realization before saying "And if you were watching us the whole time how come you didn't save me?"

"He helped." spoke up Night defending the small legendary Pokemon "He told us where you were and how to get to you."

"But you didn't actually do anything to help me." sounded Dusk "If you really cared and wanted to help you would have just busted in and got me out of there."

"It's more complicated than that." spoke up Shaymin as her ears twitched "Arceus has us follow a set of rules, and one of them includes not letting personal events effect your judgment. As legendary Pokemon we can't just go and willy nilly take out some Pokemon... it messes up the balance. Even if the rules suck they do help keep the order."

"Why would you guys choose us to do this?" sounded Vapor. All of us turned to her and saw her displeased face "I... I didn't volunteer for this, I don't want this kind of burden on my back. Why do we have to go to the Elite Four, why not you?" she frowned deeply "What if I don't want to risk my life to save a Pokemon I've never met?"

"Are you serious?" questioned Azelf "Arceus is the greatest Pokemon to ever live!"

"I live in Kanto, so I draw my loyalty to Mew... I couldn't care less about Arceus." Vapor's words were strong, but her tone was weak and scared.

"Arceus is the creator of all Pokemon, you should be honored to be given this quest!" yelled Azelf as his anger rose "Her and her alone is the god Pokemon and she needs you."

"If shes so great why do we need to save her?" demanded Dexter out of nowhere.

Silence filled the landscape as Dexter's words suck in. I could see Azelf shrink as if he had just had a revelation. His mouth closed and he sighed "I'm begging all of you, please help her... she needs you."

"We can't go the the Elite Four." said Shaymin "Arceus won't allow it, she wants to be saved by average Pokemon."

"I love her." said Azelf bluntly "I love her more than anything and I can't save her. It tears me up everyday and that is why I'm asking you to help." he looked around "All of you."

"You don't have to make a choice now, think it over." said Shaymin "And watch out for that Bulbasuar, she's coming for you. Me and Azelf will be in touch." Spoke Shaymin.

"Wait a second, before you go I need to know something." said Dusk as she started to walk towards the two legendarys "What relation to I have with Darkrai?"

The question flew right over my head and I put it in the ' don't think this is helpful' catigory, but as I saw Azelf's and Shaymin's reactions I could tell perhaps my first guess wasn't right.

"Darkrai's been contacting you?!:" shouted Azelf before tightening his hands into fists "Of course." he said under his breath.

"How long has he been doing it?" asked Shaymin as she glared at Azelf "Cool your jets too by the way."

"He isn't supposed to be talking with them, Arceus told me to make sure that Darkrai doesn't talk to his spawn. And I'm certain that if he's talking with Dusk he's talking with Scarlet." rambled Azelf.

"The Ponyta? What does she have to do with me?" demanded Dusk.

"How long has he been talking with you Dusk? I swear I'm going to kill that son of a-"

"Since the day before I was put in the Asylum." replied Dusk "And what does Scarlet have to do with this.

"You've been talking with a legendary Pokemon since before we met you and have just neglected to tell us?" shouted Ruby.

"I did the same thing." spoke Night calmly, stepping up to defend Dusk before looking at he Purrloin himself "I'm sure you were scared."

"Tell me why Scarlet's included in this, I want to know." stated Dusk.

"I actually want to know as well." I said. Scarlet and I had a little budding romance going on and I did give a crap about her. She was nice and kind, a little snooty but overall a good person to spend time with. If she was involved with all of this legendary taurospoop I wanted to know.

"We can't tell you that." responded Azelf looking more stressed that ever "We just can't tell you that so drop it."

"I want to know." sounded Dusk "She stood by me yesterday, I want to know if she's involved with this."

"That's too bad, 'cus we can't tell you." spoke Shaymin "Moving on, hows about you guys go beat that gym!"

"If you don't tell me I might get mad." said Dusk in a threatening voice "And I'm not sure if you've seen what I can do when I get angry."

That shocked me, Dusk wasn't acting herself. When I knew her in Pallet Town she would have never thought of saying that to another Pokemon, let alone a legendary one. Something was changing inside of her, and it was changing her for the worse.

Shaymin shut up and looked to Azelf like the threat was directed at him. Azelf sighed again "You can't touch a legendary Pokemon, and I don't want to hurt you."

Dark energy started to form before her "I've had to deal with Darkrai popping up in my head for over a week now, telling me what to do and what to expect. I was put in the Asylum and tortured for hours while you sat around doing Arceus' bidding. I was kidnapped by a Pokemon I thought I could trust was was given blood tests until I passed out. I was chained to a wall less that 24 hours ago while you were fiddling around doing nothing. You haven't done crap to help me, hell, Scarlet's done more to help me than you. She stood up to an insane Pikachu that could have killed her without a thought and took the time to talk to me when I was without hope." she frowned "If you ever want me to help you save your useless stupid Arceus you're going to tell me what Scarlet has to do with this!"

"Darkrai's been getting to you, and now you're changing." said Azelf sternly "Your a spitting image for his angry side right now."

"Tell me!"

"Scarlet's your sister." blurted out Shaymin. I felt a lump in my chest and turned to Dusk to see how she would react.

All of the darkness around her faded and her eyes looked innocent again, like Darkrai had been replaced by Mew "What?"

Azelf looked at Shaymin in flabbergasted anger, who just nodded "You heard me, Scarlet is your half-sister. You wanted to know so bad miss daughter of Darkai and Darkness and now you know." Shaymin smiled "Now wake up, your father's here to see you. You can ask him all about this crap."


	93. Galactic Surge: Family (Dis)fuction

I know you guys are getting tired of these apologies, but I did just spend another month to make one chapter. I do have a reason though. I graduated high school (yay) and my computer broke (aww) so I was quite occupied. If it makes you feel better I got my hands on an older one that still does what I need it to do and I actually wrote this chapter in a little under a week so I think you can expect the next chapter a little quicker.

But besides that I'm very pumped for this chapter and I hope you enjoy it

Question: Do you think Night and the gang stand a chance against the legendary dogs?

Thanks for reading this little blurp and without further adeu the next chapter.

* * *

_Scarlet's point of view_

* * *

_"Darkrai..., why am I not surprised." I said nonchalantly._

_"Perhaps because you're getting use to seeing me." replied the Dark Lord with what I almost thought was familiarity. A quick look around revealed the location that I was in. I recognized it, Darkrai had talked to me before in it, purplish dead grass ran for as far as I could tell and a large full moon shown high in the dying pink of the sky. This sight would bother most other Pokemon but for some reason I felt oddly comfortable, like it was a second home._

_"It seems like I just spoke with you dear, why are you back so soon?" I asked with a slight smile._

_"Dear?" sounded Darkrai before emitting a quick dark laugh "That's the first time anyone's called me that... anyway, it's time that you woke up."_

_I rolled my eyes "Because I can make myself wake up, right."_

_"Don't take that tone with me." responded Darkrai in a voice that I used to be terrified of, but now I was more or less used to it "Your father's here to talk with you."_

_My eyes opened wide "No... he can't b-"_

"Scarlet."

My eyes opened and I suddenly felt like I was weaker. I became completely aware that I had just barely escaped death. Looking down at my chest I saw the bandages around my chest and and IV in my arm. Traces of dried blood dotted my fur and an almost overwhelming sense of dreariness clouded my vision.

"Scarlet." the moment his voice hit my ears I was rushed by a mix of emotions. He was my father, and somewhere in my heart I loved him... but it was so hard for me to even think about my childhood without remembering how he was never around. All he ever had for me was empty promises and sour memories and even though he had come to see me all I could do was be reminded of how my father had failed me.

"What do you want?" I spoke with disgust before coughing.

The shiny Umbreon's brow curved upwards "I wanted to see my daughter... I heard that you were in serious condition last night and had to come see if you were okay." His voice sounded genuine, and that was the worst part. Him caring about me didn't fit the narative that I wanted.

"Well, you've seen m-" I was interrupted with a gnarly coughing fit that forced me to clutch my chest.

"Your lung was punctured last night, you're lucky you got the the Pokemon Center in time or your other lung would have deflated from depressurization..." he paused and looked down "I would have lost you."

Silence filled the room like a gas as I thought about what he said. I could have died, very easily actually.

I frowned "And of course mother couldn't come."

"Your mother lives a very busy life Scarlet, you can't blame her for not being able to make it." responded the Umbreon.

"Where's Napoleon?" I spoke quickly in an attempt to dismiss any notion that my mother cared about me.

"That's not important honey, your mother couldn't make it but she did want to talk to you. When your ready call her."

"Oh excellent, she wants to talk to me about how much of a failure I've been to her." I rolled my eyes "I'm looking forward to it."

"She loves you Scarlet." sounded my father.

"Of course, the same way you do right?"

"Scarlet!" shouted the Umbreon "What's wrong with you. I come here to see you and all you can do is complain in spite. I'm trying honey, can't you see that?"

"Unfortunately you're about twenty years too late. Do you know how terrible it was growing up with a mother like mine, a Pokemon so selfish she never once thought about me when it wouldn't help her? She sent me away to live in Unova because she couldn't stand the sight of me... if I hadn't met Napoleon I'd be even more of a lonely recluse than I am now. And then you just pop in every few years to see if I'm still alive and leave before I can even confide with you."

"I have a lot of responsibilities Scarlet." quietly spoke my father.

"Like my mother right?"

"It's not like that, I have a lot of things on my plate."

"Is that why you never tell me what you do?" I asked.

"The same way you never told me what you were doing with Team Rocket and Team Galactic? I only knew because Napoleon told me." he responded, there was an anger in his tone but I could tell he was trying to hide it.

"Oh, that reminds me." I strained myself to sit up in the bed "Why do you talk with Napoleon so much? Why do you and him seem to know each other so well?"

Suddenly the Umbreon withdrew a little "No reason, he's your friend and I wanted to get to know him."

I shook my head "That's a lie father, tell me the truth."

"That is the truth, end of conversation." he said with reservation.

I knew there was something there, and I was about to find out. Mustering up all the strength I could get I jumped off the bed. IVs sticking out of my body and my legs wobbling weakly I looked my father in the eye "Tell me father, I'm tired of secrets... how do you know Napoleon."

Without warning I heard the creak of the door opening. Looking past my father I saw Dusk standing in the now open door, her eyes wide like she had just seen a ghost. My father turned his head and the moment he saw the Purrloin his whole manor relaxed and his mouth opened in a calm sigh.

"Good Scarlet you're here too." she eyed my father and said with confidence "It's time you told us the truth _dad_."

My eyes went wide and my mouth went agape "What?... What is she talking about father?"

The Dark-type sighed and exchanged glances with us before saying "I guess there's no hiding it now. Dusk, Scarlet... you two are half sisters."

I was flabergasted and I looked at Dusk and saw that she wasn't amazed by this... she already knew "Wait, then that means..." my already weak legs went weaker-

"I kidnapped my own sister... and you didn't stop me."

He nodded.

"What is wrong with you?" sounded my voice in the darkest most sickening tone I could muster up.

"I knew that if you didn't find Dusk Team Rocket and Team Galactic would have killed you without a second thought." he eyed my sister "And I apologize for putting you at risk like that... but if it meant that I didn't have to lose both of you..."

"I understand that." spoke the Purrloin as she walked around her father to stand next to me "What I don't understand is why you've kept us apart, why never tell us that we were related?"

"Very complicated reasons." replied our father quietly "Reasons that I need to discuss with you later."

"What's wrong with right now?" I frowned "Why does it have to wait?" I looked at Dusk "I...I didn't know that I had a sister and... I'm, I'm so sorry for all the things I put you to."

The feline glanced at me and calmed me down with a soft smile "I wouldn't worry about it Scarlet... you did what you had to." she turned to our father "And I'm sure you have too... and if this has to do with Darkrai-"

"It has everything to do with Darkrai." responded our father "I'd love to stay and talk... but I have something to attend to. I swear I'll be able to answer all the questions you want when I get time alright girls." he paused and looked at both of us "I can't believe that you two are together now."

"Try not to get sentimental, we aren't one big happy family just yet." I said in a snide tone.

"Scarlet..." sounded Napoleon's voice. I turned to the door to see the bandaged Snivy standing at the doorway "You're awake."

I smiled at looked at my father and my sister "I'm sorry dears, but can I have a moment with Napoleon." I looked back up at the grass type "We need to talk."

* * *

Azelf's point of view

* * *

"It's been a while hasn't it Valor Cavern." sounded my voice as it reverberated off of the walls of the only place I really could call home. It wasn't all that different from any other cave, wet walls, rocky surroundings and a wide pool of shallow water in the center.

Looking around I realized that this was the first time since I met Night that I would be able to relax. Don't get me wrong, I love that Umbreon and his group (for the most part), but I was in dire need of some R&R.

I levitated myself over the water beneath me and closed my eyes, not to sleep, but to meditate. I needed to clear my mind of everything that was bothering me; Arceus, Shaymin, Darkrai, all the troubles that were clouding my mind and causing stress needed to go away. I sighed and let a small smile onto my face, I could spend hours doing just that in silence over the motionless water.

**"Azelf!"**

I gritted my teeth as the cascading yell echoed throughout my previously silent stead. Tightening my fists I opened my eyes "Come on Mesprit, do you see me meditating?!

My sister giggled, something that suited her well, and put her hands on her hip"Oh, that's the first thing you say after seeing your sister for the first time in three weeks?"

I frowned, she was right. Before I even thought about going home I should have went to see my siblings. I let loose and smirked "I'm sorry." I floated over to her "How are you Mesprit?"

"Better than you I think." she said placing a hand on my shoulder "You've spend so much time away, what have you been doing?"

"Mostly watching over the group of Pokemon Arceus wants to save her." I said rubbing my forehead "And when I'm not doing that I'm waiting to get an audience with Arceus."

Mesprit seemed surprised and angry at my last comment "You haven't talked with Arceus yet?"

I shrugged "She's busy."

"To busy to see you, a Pokemon that's been working for her since she's been dying?" sounded Mesprit "Azelf, you really need to demand to see her."

Sighing I said "I'll see, right now I just need to relax for a little bit. Celebi told me that the dogs are on the move and are going to attack Night's group soon."

My sister nodded "Well then I'll leave you to it. I'll tell Uxie you said hello and you know that if you ever need us we'll be there for you."

"I know," I sighed "Thanks for stopping by, hopefully I can get some rest before having to talk with Shaymin again... that girl's gonna be the death of me."

* * *

Ferne's point of view

* * *

"Now that was quite interesting." sounded Night as he looked at me "But I guess now we know right?"

I nodded "Yeah. Also Dusk said she went to talk with Scarlet about it... if I were her I'd be feeling pretty crappy right now."

It had been several minutes since all of us (with the exception of Crystal) had been told that Dusk and Scarlet were actually related. Shortly after we all woke up our trainers had us go to the lobby. At the moment Night and I had gotten a little time to talk and were trying to make good use of it.

"To be honest if I was Scarlet I'd feel pretty terrible right now." spoke Night with a shrug "She kidnapped her own sister."

"But she did it because she had no other choice." I replied with a bit of aditude "I thought I already told you that."

The dark type nodded "Yeah... I still have a little bit of residue anger from last night, but I'm dealing with it."

I rolled my eyes and laughed a little "Of course ... but I am proud of you for accepting Scarlet's apology last night. That was a big thing to do after everything you saw in the asylum, I can see why Azelf chose you."

The Umbreon smiled "Thanks, but I'm nothing special. Azelf might have chosen me but I'm one of the less capable Pokemon in this team."

I had forgotten the charm that made me like the dark type when I first met him near Pallet Town, but when I saw how humble he could be I remembered. Despite the arrogance and self-importance that he openly displayed most of the time he did have an inherently selfless way of thinking. I couldn't figure out why he put up such a strong wall, but at the moment that didn't matter. Night was a good Pokemon and when I looked at him I felt a little better.

"Okay guys." said Jack in an excited tone, drawing all of our attention "Since we've already seen how strong this gym leader's Pokemon are Desmond, Kat and I are going to do a training session with you guys."

"I think Jack's team and mine know all about how strong those Pokemon are first hand." spoke Desmond as he scratched his neck "And I don't think any of us want a repeat."

"And Dusk." sounded Katherine looking at her Purrloin "If you aren't ready to get back into action you can sit this one out."

"Sit this one out?" asked Dusk before scoffing and shaking her head "Not a chance."

"Alright then." Katherine smiled "Then I guess we're all coming."

_"Good, you're moving on Jane... took you long enough"_

_"Don't be so hard on her, we're her brothers and she loves us."_

I shook my head, the voices in my head were coming back... that wasn't good.

_"Don't worry so much Jane- I'm certain you'll find us soon. Heck, we might be closer than you think."_

* * *

Acid's point of view

* * *

"It's excellent to see you again Silver." said Rust with a large smile "It's been too long."

"I agree." added yours truly as I tried my best to appear nonchalant in front of the human that I respected most in the world "It's good to see you."

My trainer stood over us leaning against a wall, he brushed a red bang away from his eyes "I'm happy to see that you three managed to take down the Asylum, in fact I can say that I'm very proud." he let himself smile " I can't say that I know any other Pokémon that could pull off something as spectacular as that."

I nodded "Don't mention it, Amethyst did most of the work."

"He knows." sounded the cat from across the room in her classical monotone voice

My brother nudged me "At least she appreciates the compliment."

Silver pushed himself off the wall "Well now that we're all here I have something vital to tell you. There is a reason that I came all the way here." he sighed "My father has informed me that Team Galactic has a squad in this city and that they're getting ready to launch some kind of assault on the Umbreon that you're trying to protect."

Rust raised a brow "Is that it? I think we can handle one squad of Team Galactic."

"That's not the only thing... he said that Mewtwo also told him something." spoke our trainer.

"Mewtwo..." I gasped "I thought he hated us."

"So did my father, which is why I'm taking this information with a grain of salt but Mewtwo told my father that the legendary dog trio is launching an attack on the Umbreon and his group very soon and that they're going to need all the help they can get." Silver tightened his fists "If even one of those dogs attack I need you to be in top condition and I can't just be in command while you guys did all the work, it would be a waste if I wasn't here to help the three best Pokémon Team Rocket has to offer."

"What business do legendary Pokémon from Hoenn have attacking a group of trainers in Kanto?" asked Amethyst as she started to walk towards me.

Silver frowned as he gripped his chin "I don't know, and that's one of the things that been worrying me too."

"What do you mean one of the things?" asked Rust "What else is going on?"

"Mewtwo isn't the only legendary that's been contacting us lately... Mew has as well."

"Mew too?!" I exclaimed

"No you idiot, Mew." sounded my brother rolling his eyes

"No I mean Mew... too, as in Mew as well- nevermind." I refocused "What has Mew told you?"

"A couple of days ago two Rocket grunts were found dead and one of their Pokémon is traveling with the Umbreon you're stalking..." started Silver.

Amethyst nodded "Yes, we know that. Crystal, what about her?"

"The last time Mew spoke to me he told me to tell her to trust Team Rocket and to listen to Azelf... also Mew was very clear that he wanted her to know that he was the only one that really knew what was going on." Silver's face tightened "I just don't get what Azelf has to do with this, why would a legendary from Sinnoh be involved with this too?"

"Is that all Mew told you?" I asked sounding very concerned "Because if that's it is really sounds like Mew's just using you as an envoy."

Silver sighed and stroked his hair "There is one more thing though..." his voice started to crack. His hands shook slightly and he licked his lips.

"Mew said the dogs were going to attack Vermilion within two days... and if he's not bluffing we'll be the last line of defense between them and the Umbreon."


	94. Galactic Surge: Mending Wounds

Okay, so I was going to make this a little longer and add in a little part at the end, but I didn't want to rush it and add on a little crappy part so it can wait until next update. But I think you guys will enjoy this chaper as it tells you a good bit of back story that I've been hinting at for about twenty chapters.

Alright then, question; Who do you prefer Team Rocket's Ace squad or Team Galactic's Alpha Team?

* * *

Crystal's point of view

* * *

"Crystal, are you okay? You seem to be a little worried." spoke Dexter in a quiet tone.

The sun was shining down on our group as we trotted down to the Vermilion coastline to train. It was the first time that I was really going to be a part of the Pokemon training experience with my new trainer and I was a little excited.

I frowned a little, I wasn't okay. My mind was still clouded from what Silver had said to me. How could I just tell them that Team Rocket's second in command just waltzed in the Pokemon Center when only I was awake, told me to trust Team Rocket, Mew, and Azelf, and then left without another word. I sounded like a terrible lie.

I gave a fake smile "Yeah I'm fine." I felt a sting in my chest when I said that, I was the worst kind of hypocrite. Dexter told me he was in Team Galactic and I couldn't tell him or anyone else very important information just because I was scared of the consequences. Thinking quickly I thought of something to get off the topic "So, do you know how Dusk's doing with this whole sister thing?"

Dexter shrugged and glanced at the Purrloin who was walking a few meters in front of us "I imagine Dusk isn't the type of girl to get angry and from what I've heard about Scarlet she isn't a terrible person... so I don't think that Dusk'll hold a grudge against Scarlet if Dusk knows that the Ponyta only did it to save her life."

"I just hope they work something out so they can see each other more often." I smiled "It's seems so exciting, finding out that you've had a sister your whole life."

"I'm sure it's also a shock to the system though." responded the Espeon.

"Alright guys!" yelled Jack (in a very unnecessary tone), "I think this is the perfect place." I looked around and could see why he thought that. We were on a beach and with the fall ending and winter coming the weather was starting to get colder and closer to my liking. The tide was shallow and a sea breeze was strong, meaning that very few other humans or Pokemon were walking about. If it wasn't for the still bothersome sun this would be the perfect spot for me.

"Okay, how do you think we should do this... we have a good amount of Pokemon to train." sounded Katherine crossing her arms.

"Good point." replied Desmond "I think the most effective way to train would be to battle, only problem is Kat has four Pokémon and we have three."

"And I pretty sure it's a good idea for us to partner with out Pokemon... so why don't two of my Pokemon battle Kat's while her other two Pokemon battle Des. Then Des and I can have a battle with our last Pokemon." spoke Jack, oddly not sounding like an idiot.

"That's... actually a really good idea Jack." said Katherine with a little smile before turning to me "Well then I say I should go first, seeing that I've never had a battle with Crystal I'd say it's time we worked together."

When she said that I couldn't help but smile, it was the first time I ever really felt like I was her Pokemon and that she felt like I was a part of her life.

"I'm fine with that." said Desmond eyeing the goth "I can wait."

Jack smirked and looked down at Night "Well buddy, you up for a battle?"

The Umbreon looked at me with his soft red eyes. I never really got the chance to talk, so that meant our first real exchange would be with blows and I was fine with that. He struck me as kind of a jerk and it would be nice to show my new partners (mostly Ruby) that I could hold my own. Night smirked "I'm set."

"Awesome." he looked back up at Katherine "Are you ready them?"

My trainer crossed her arms "Of course." she looked down at me "Are you Crystal."

I puffed my chest up and nodded.

"Excellent." sounded Desmond as he stepped back "Alright everyone clear and area between the two of them, they're going to need a lot of space."

* * *

Ivy's point of view

* * *

"Blitzkrieg, what are you doing." I spoke with a sharp sense of anger in my gut "I told you we are not to be seen by them yet. If any of them spots us it's bad news, but if Requiem gets a glance at us ... this whole operation with the Purrloin might be over."

"Yeah, yeah I gotcha-" replied the Raichu in an annoyingly dismissive tone as he waved a paw at me "I'm using binoculars so chill out P-Ivy. And isn't this what Cyrus said we should do more of? Ya know, being aggressive."

I grumbled. My idiotic partner and I stood on a low rooftop closest to the Vermilion coastline. People bustled below us and if we made any mistake our whole cover would have been blown. Like my partner had said, we... or he was looking at our targets training on the beach. How he had convinced me that this would be a valuable way to spend time I'll never know, the rat had a way with words.

"This is stupid." I sounded.

"It's brave." quickly retorted the Raichu.

"In my experience both of those words mean the same thing, making instant choices that have terrible consequences." I paused "Not to mention you're freaking wearing your Team Galactic gear. So on top of them seeing a Bulbasaur-"

"Now wait a sec Ivy, I don't think you can call yourself a Bulbasaur... they don't have hair." said Blitzkrieg keeping his eyes in the binoculars the whole time.

I gritted my teeth "- Seeing a Bulbasaur and a Raichu on a roof spying on them they'll also see who our leader is. And it's not fur, it's a layer of this green poison barbs that look like fur to fool my enemies."

The Raichu put down his peeping device and glanced at me up and down before shrugging "It's still stupid, it looks like fur."

"That's the point!" I shouted and then instantly both of us realized my mistake. He hit the ground and Blitzkrieg peered through the binoculars.

"I don't think they heard you Ms. Brave."

I frowned "What I did there was stupid, not brave."

I saw the rodent crack a smile and without turning around he said "I thought they were the same thing."

* * *

Napoleon's point of view

* * *

"My father told you Dusk was my sister a few days ago?" questioned Scarlet sounding a little betrayed. He stood in her Pokémon Center room alone a few minutes after her father had left.

I nodded "Yes, and the only reason that I didn't tell you was for your own safety. You had so many things to deal with and barely made it out alive as is."'

"Why would my father tell you that before me?" she questioned, "I asked my father what you two have going on, and he ignored me... I want you to tell me."

The moment I heard the Ponyta speak those words I knew that she was getting close to finding out the truth and I wasn't sure what the master would want me to say. "Oh... well."

"There is something isn't there Napoleon?" asked Scarlet as she stood up on her fragile legs "Please tell me dear, I'm growing so tired of all these secrets."

I tightened my fists "Are you sure you want to know... I don't want you to worry-"

"Believe me Napoleon, I want to know... I can't stand not knowing."

Sighing I looked at the Ponyta and couldn't help but feel sorry for her. For almost all of her life she'd been living through lies told to her by her mother and father, always never really knew what was going on around her. Scarlet was my best friend and I loved her more than anything else in the world, she deserved to know about how I knew her father.

"Do you remember when your mother sent you to live with my family and I in Unova when we were children?" I asked.

"Yes." responded the fire-type in a peppy tone. I couldn't tell if she was happy because I was telling her or if she was remembering our childhood but it was good to see her smile again.

"Well a few months before you moved your father came to my family and asked them if he could train me."

"In what?"

"In self-defense so I could help protect you." I retorted "He seemed very concerned about you moving out of Kanto and wanted to make sure you were taken care of. So in the months before you arrived your father trained me and taught me how to defend myself and you if the time came."

Scarlet smiled, "So that's why you were so protective."

I laughed a bit and scratch my head "Yeah I guess, but anyway. As you know you ended up staying for a few years. After we tried out a less plutonic relationship and it didn't work I actually felt closer to you and when you left for Kanto I tried to contact your father." I paused for a second "I wanted to become stronger and faster and smarter and I knew that if your father had taught me what he could in a few months and I was competent there was no limit to what he could teach me if he had the time."

"Well what did he say dear?" sounded Scarlet appearing to become more and more interested.

"He said yes, but only under the condition that I be taught along with four other Pokémon." I sighed "In the past two days you've met all four of them; Black the Vulpix, White the Meowth, Claire the Pikachu, and Jane the Leafeon..." I smiled "Despite how most of them have turned out I can say that training with them was one of the best times in my life."

"Wait a moment..." spoke Scarlet sounded worried "Your telling me that the Pokémon that tried to kill me twice, the Pokémon that did tests of me and the one that came to fight us last night were all your closest friends?"

I frowned a bit "At a time, yes... but that was a long time ago."

She looked at me with sympathy "Oh Napoleon my darling... this last couple of days must've been hell for you."

How ironic, she was feeling bad for me now. I shrugged "I've had better weekends. Anyway I spent four years training with your father in the woods." I reached for my dagger, but had forgotten that I was nude and wasn't wearing it "... with my dagger that I don't have right now. I don't know how, but your father was a genius in almost any combat style you could think of and he taught us all that he knew with the thought that we would use our skills to make the world a better place." I smiled at her "And when I was done I came to Vermillion and I think you know the rest."

"So my father spent four years training five Pokémon..." she looked down at her feet "Did you know that before a few days ago I hadn't seen him in three years?"

I felt a knot in my chest "Scarlet..."

"No it's fine." she said looking back up at me as a single tear ran down her cheek "I've always been a failure of a daughter... I'm glad that you got to spend time with him." she looked out the window next to her and sighed "He always did want a son."


	95. Galactic Surge: Training Day

So I'm actually super proud of this chapter, I think it does a lot for the story. I am only 5 away from the big one hundred too!

Well I do also have a little story to help out. It's a tale by the name of Unintended Complications and the link is here fanfiction s/8231033/1/Unintended-Complications (without the spaces) and it's also in my faved stories. It's a fun story and I think you'll enjoy it!

Oh and also I have to thank Annihilator5026 for helping me by proofreading my last couple of chapters. Seriously, it's been really nice :)

Anywho, on to the question for this chapter. Does this chapter influence how you feel about Black or Claire?

As always thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Night's point of view

* * *

The everlasting annoying light of the sun shined down on me as the large gas ball in the sky attempted to fight off the approach of winter. A cool breeze rushed off the waters of the ocean on onto the beach where I was getting ready for a little battle. Behind me stood my trainer and his other two Pokémon and about 10 meters in front of me stood Crystal and Katherine.

I hadn't found the time to actually talk with the Glaceon, but she did seem a little cold (punny right?) to me. Her chilled ice blue eyes drilled into me as I recalled that she was in Team Rocket less than a week before and that she had fought my group on the road to Cerulean City and that she didn't seem all that impressive... but you never know and I wasn't about to let my arrogance lose me another battle.

Desmond stood between us and was acting as the moderator in this debate of power. He looked at both sides, "Katherine, are you all set?"

Kat smirked, her deep maroon hair blowing in the wind with her green jacket and said "Yep, are you Crystal?"

The ice type nodded without breaking eye contact with me.

Desmond turned to Jack "And are you ready Jacky boy?"'

My lovable Goth of a trainer ran his fingers through his hair "I am, and am pretty sure Night is too." He looked down at me "Ain't ya buddy?"

I sighed and smiled "Oh yeah."

Desmond nodded "Perfect, now lets get this battle started!"

"Night start off with a quick attack, don't let her get comfortable." spoke Jack. I knew my trainer would want to get the first attack out so I was already prepared. Planting my feet I charged at the Glaceon and hoped she wouldn't have time to react.

"Crystal, Ice Shard go!" shouted Katherine pointing at me. I had seen the attack before, a bunch of little pieces of ice coming at me at top speeds. Without Jack's command I started to serpentine and most of the little ice shards missed me completely. However once I was within striking distance to Crystal she ducked out of nowhere. I had already lunged so I followed through and leaped over her, avoiding the little leg sweep she had pull off.

I landed on all fours and tried to slow myself down to turn around, but the sand wasn't the most solid ground. I got a little worried with my back to my enemy and just when I didn't know what to do I heard Kat say "Crystal tackle him."

"Night jump now!" shouted Jack from across the beach. I didn't know what his plan was, but I knew it was better than mine so I went for it. Putting all of my energy into my legs I pushed up and into Crystal, who was in the process of trying to tackle me. The thing is, she was mostly past me so when I pushed up I mostly hit her hind legs and groin which forced her to tumble forward. It was looking like she would just land on her back but to my surprise she managed to get her front paws behind my head and cupped the base of my neck. In the end she landed on her face and I landed on mine.

Sticking my head out of the sand I saw that hers was still quite stuck. Not to mention that her butt was about three inches from my face. Now being a heterosexual male I did get a little bit of enjoyment out of it, but I also knew that if I just glared at her it would be massively rude and a dolt of a thing to do. So I did what I knew best and charged a shadow ball and fired it off at point black range. (I was sure not to make it to strong though, didn't want to put her in the hospital)

Crystal's hind quarters were forced up and her head was pulled out of the sand. Tumbling forward she landed on her back with a thud. Her head was the closest thing to me and she was looking straight up so I took the opportunity to say "Are you done?"

She eyed me with anger and frowned "Not even close."

"Crystal get up!" yelled Kat, "He's going to attack you again."

"Night don't let her move." spoke Jack in a calm fashion, "You've got this man."

I was about to move to pin her down but before I could Crystal pulled out some crazy moves. Number one and curled herself up and rolled towards me. Mid roll she plants her feet, stands up, and whacks the back of her head off my face. Then without skipping a beat she turns around and blasts me in the chest with what I assumed to be an ice beam.

Screaming in pain I flew back clutching my chest. I hit the ground rolling somehow and used the momentum from the attack to catch myself and land on my feet.

"Night, are you okay?" questioned my trainer. To tell you the truth I was pretty burnt out and looking at Crystal I saw she had limping. I was ready for the battle to be over and luckily Katherine felt the same .

"I say we call it a draw." sounded the girl going to one knee to check on Crystal "Night's not looking so great and Crystal's limping." she turned to her ice type "But you did do a great job out there."

"Agreed, awesome job Night." spoke Jack before looking at Desmond "Alright Des, looks like your up."

* * *

Black's point of view

* * *

Before I say anything I have to get one thing out of the way, everything that you've seen me do has been told from a different perspective. I'm not a bad person and I'm not evil... I just do what I think is best and try to move on. Did I try to kill Scarlet, yes, but not just for kicks. In fact I didn't really want to hurt her, I knew that she wasn't the bad guy in all of this... but when you get put into the situations I've been in you do what the person in charge tells you to do.

Anyway, on to my part of this tangled web of a tale. At the moment I was standing in an alleyway in Vermilion City awaiting a contact. I wasn't one that enjoyed waiting and it was clear that the Pokémon I was going to meet was very late; this put me in quite a sour mood. I knew that I wanted to get out of that city as soon as I could and the moment the meeting was over I'd be gone.

Sighing I leaned against a wall and scratched my neck, my six tails bunched up behind me and provided a nice cushion. From my black fur people forget, but I was a Vulpix through and through.

"Black!" shouted a familiar male voice from the opening of the alley. I turned my head casually and spotted the Nidoran duo that was so prevalent in the Resistance. Nero and Violet looked the same as they did when I last saw them in Cerulean, Nero still had that permanent frown on his face and Violet was still the voice of reason. Raising a paw to greet them I pushed myself off the wall and fell on all fours.

"You're late." I spoke with a frown "I'm very busy and I don't like to be kept waiting."

"I don't know, I like to keep you waiting." sounded Nero stepping closer "It reminds you of your place."

I raised a brow "Do you mean my higher rank or my more extensive battle record... that isn't the way you should speak to me seeing that you got your ass kicked by a group of lesser Pokémon just a week ago."

Nero scowled "Shut up, you don't talk to _me _like that. You weren't in the Resistance in the beginning years. All the time we spend fighting for a place in this world and waiting for the day the humans would fear us. All you did was jump on the moving train and get cozy with Eric and Zain... you don't know what it means to start off with nothing and make it into something."

I smirked, he knew a lot less than I thought he did. But I wasn't in the mood to burst any bubbles so I simply shrugged "Envy will get you nowhere Nero." I turned to Violet "Is there a reason you had be come here?"

The female Nidoran nodded and nudged her brother to shut him up "Zain wants you to report to Safaron as soon as you can, the operation there won't work unless you're in the city."

"Fine." I said quickly "I'll be there in a couple of days... is that all?"

She nodded "Yeah."

"Then tell Eric and Zain that if they want to give me instruction give me a radio instead of making me go to this useless rendezvous, not that I don't enjoy your company Violet but I do have a tight agenda."

Violet smiled and nodded "I'll tell them."

I turned to walk away "Good, then I'll be off." and without another word I left them.

As I made my way through the city I couldn't take a step without thinking about what Napoleon had said to me. He was completely in his right to be angry with me, but it still hurt to hear him say the things he said. I didn't have the right to feel sad though, I had done the same thing to him just a few days prior.

_'At least Scarlet didn't die.' _I thought, _'If she did there would have been very bad repercussions.'_

Of course at that point I couldn't know the legendary forces that were brewing and that my actions were being followed very closely by a being with power that could dwarf mine.

I sighed and looked up at the sky "I guess I should get going, Safaron City's a ways away."

* * *

Dexter's point of view

* * *

"Dex, your up next man." spoke Jack with his arms crossed and a smile on his face "Get yourself ready."

To be honest I really wasn't looking forward to fighting. On top of it being a bit too cold for me I absolutely despise the smell of the beach. But I put on a happy face and dealt with it, at least I was with humans and Pokémon I could relatively trust.

"Your battling with Dexter huh?" sounded Desmond standing about twenty feet away. He looked down to his Vaporeon "Vapor, you up for this?"

The water type nodded and looked at me with a friendly look of competition. I liked Vapor, she seemed like a nice enough girl. A few self-esteem issues but overall and pretty standup girl. I had only seen her fight once before in the Cerulean city gym and that was when she took down a Gyrados... which meant she had some power that I would have to watch out for.

This time Katherine stood on the sides watching the battle while the rest of the Pokémon watched behind her "Okay, you guys all set?"

Desmond nodded "Yep."

Jack stroked my head "Yeah."

Katherine nodded "Good." she brushed some of her very long brown hair out of her face "Then let's get this started!"

"Dex, start charging a psychic blast and then move in for a tackle." spoke my trainer never one not to go first."

I did as I was told and started to store some energy to use for later and then charged at Vapor. The moment I took my first steps I really realized just how unstable the sand was and I saw my speed drop quite some bit.

Weirdly Desmond stays silent and simply watched as I trudged my way through the soggy sand towards Vapor. Then when I was about halfway there I realized what he was doing, that smart bastard was making me tire myself out.

"Okay lass, use Aqua jet." said the young man as he pushed the fedora on his head to fit around his skull "Stay on top of the aqua jet too, don't waste energy."

"Crap." sounded Jack "Dexter use that psychic attack now!"

Rushing myself I unleashed my pent up energy in the form on a Psychic blast. Unfortunately I wasn't as close as I would've liked to be and my attack dissipated before it could reach the now charging water-type. I couldn't dodge and I didn't have time to charge up another attack so I braced myself and hoped the aqua jet wouldn't be too strong.

The attack collided with my and set me flying through the air. My muscles tensed up with pain as I slid across the sand and landed on my side.

"Vapor keep at it, don't let him get up!" shouted Desmond with enthusiasm.

"Dexter, kick up some of the sand with your feet." spoke Jack "Then counter-attack."

Seeing the value in my trainer's idea I started to disturb the sand under my feet. Vapor came charging in on her aqua jet, but was rendered useless as the sand got into her face. The truly great thing was that since she was still on her aqua jet she was still charging at me, but now I had the upper hand. Standing up I raised an arm and collided my elbow with her gut. She emitting at dry groan as she fell the the ground before me.

Standing triumphant it took me a second to realize that my arm was sprained after the attack I had pulled and wasn't in the mood to take on any weight.

"Are you alright Vapor?" I asked, wanting to make sure she wasn't badly hurt.

The Vaporeon coughed, curled her head up to look at me and smiled "Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me."

"I'd say that the end of that battle." sounded Katherine before raising her hand "My turn, hope your ready Desmond!"

* * *

Claire's point of view

* * *

Okay, okay, okay... okay. Before I start I know that you probably hate me. If you do, sorry but I don't care. I'm actually only slightly terrible once you get to know me. Granted that Ceruleon city intro wasn't the best first impression.

Anyway, I'm sure that everyone else has done a freakin' amazing job of describing me too. A Pikachu with a black Team Rocket bodysuit and two daggers. Not to much else to say on that matter.

At the time I was outside the Pokémon Center in Vermilion standing next to the window to Scarlet's room. I could hear Napoleon and the Ponyta talking, about what I couldn't tell though. I didn't know why I was drawn back to the Snivy, my mission with him was done but I couldn't just leave. Maybe what he had told me in the warehouse the day before had stuck with me. That snake loved me once, and to be honest I think I loved him back. But things changed, we changed, and we found ourselves on different sides of the law.

_'Damn it to Mew Napoleon.'_ I thought _'You got to me.' _My will to talk to him overpowered the knowledge that nothing good could come from it and I found myself jumping through the window and into the room.

"Claire, what the hell?!" shouted the grass type.

I sighed _'This is the kind of thanks I get.'_

Scarlet, who looked like she was fresh out of the ICU backed away a little "What do you want Claire?"

I crossed my arms and looked at Napoleon "Hey, where are your cloths and your cute little utility belt?"

"Claire." spoke the grass-type "What do you want?"

"Is there some kind of rule that says I want something every time I talk to you?" I asked taking a step towards him "Maybe I just wanna chat?"

Napoleon's stark crimson eyes went wide with surprise and then settled into a frown, an expression I had seen far to often from the reptile. He always seemed to worried, so concerned about something. Even back when I was training under the master with him I barley saw him smile. That is, unless he was talking with me. "Claire you've proven time and time again that nothing good comes from your visits. I don't want to cause a scene so gett out."

As he spoke an idea came into my head, and unlike most of the ones I came up with it wasn't a lie "Actually I do have some information to relay to you." I eyed Scarlet "Good news Scarlet, Team Rocket has no quarrel with you anymore. You're free."

The Ponyta smiled "Really?"

I smirked back at her "Really." For some reason I felt happy for Scarlet, and I couldn't figure out why. Seeing her happy just lifted my spirits a little. "Okay, that's it." I jumped back up to the windowsill "I have some work I need to take care of." I gave a quick salute "I'll see ya when I see ya." and with that I jumped though the window.

"Now to find where Amethyst is, I bet Silver's in town."

* * *

"What!?" I yelled, unable to contain myself "Mewtwo told you this personally?"

"He told my trainer personally." retorted Amethyst. Her gray and red fur was stained by the sun and made her look slightly less boring then she actually was.

We stood in an abandoned building that her and her squad had been staying in since they had arrived in Vermilion. I was a little resentful actually, Giovanni never bothered to get me a private building... I just had to sleep wherever I could.

"Where is Silver by the way." I looked around "And Rust and Acid."

The chubby Delcatty rolled her eyes "They're out on recon. I'm staying here trying to figure out what I can do agaist the legendary dogs if they do attack." she sighed "All signs point to defeat if they all roll in, a very small chance if two show up, and a moderately terrible chance if one turns up. Either way there's no way in hell I'm letting Acid or Rust go in the field after a legendary Pokémon alone."

I frowned "Well, I'd love to help but Giovanni said he wants me out of the city."

"To go to Safaron for the upcoming operation?" question Amethyst "I didn't think he trusted you that much."

And there it was, one of Amethyst's famous little jabs at me "He trusts me enough to know that I don't need a team." I said quickly "I'm actually going to some dumb hick town to the south by the name of Pallet Town."

"Oh I feel so sorry for you." said Amethyst with fake pity.

I snapped my fingers sarcastically "Yeah, now I don't get to die fighting legendary Pokémon in Vermilion city. I know, it sucks." I paused "Mewtwo... really?"

"Yes."

"I was sure that ball fingered douchebag hated us... even though he wouldn't be alive without us." I said "But I have heard that legendary Pokémon are assholes."

That one made the feline in front of me chuckle a little "Yeah, and I bet Mew's the most conceded of them all. But at least they leave us alone for the most part."

"Something I do wonder about is how Giovanni got Mew's DNA in the first place." I eyed the Delcatty "You wouldn't happen to know more about that?"

"If I did I couldn't tell you." replied Amethyst quickly "Anyway, I think you should get going. Pallet Town's a long way from here."

"I might stop by the Umbreon, tell him about the attack..." I said knowing it would get a rise out of her.

Amethyst's eyes widened as she frowned "You'll do no such thing! I won't have you spreading this information around. What if this actually happens?"

"Then the Umbreon and his group will trust me some more... and then I'll have some sway with them." I said with a toothy grin "And if I'm wrong I get the satisfaction of watching their reactions. So basically it's a win win."

Amethyst sighed "Do whatever you want, just get out of my hair." she turned to walk away.

I smirked some more as a diabolical memory come to my head "Actually before I go I should tell you that I read your file."

The Delcatty stopped and turned her head slightly "You have that kind of clearance?"

"Oh yeah. Just wanted to get to know you... and I was very surprised at what I found." I said walking closer to her "Like how your childhood went."

The cat turned around, a look of pure anger on her face "You don't have the right to look at that information."

I leaned on a wall "It's actually quite depressing. You were born in a test facility in Unova, your parent's never saw you as you were whisked away to solitary confinement and for the first 10 years of your life the only outside contact you had was with the human that fed you."

"Shut up Claire."

"To tell you the truth I'm amazed that you weren't broken by the time they introduced you to your cellmate, an Espeon that was being tested on just like you." I laughed a little, enjoying every moment of it "In fact, it says you even called each other brother and sister... because you were the only family that you had. How touching."

Amethyst's teeth showed as she snarled "Does snooping in other people's past make you feel better about your dead parents?"

I paused, surpised at her strength in being able to bring that up. Yeah my parent's died... it happens. I pushed myself off the wall "Maybe... I just wanted you to know that were shared something."

"What? A crappy childhood?" answered Amethyst.

"Nope." I said "A shared debt to Giovanni for saving our lives. So whenever you get all high and mighty around me like you own me just remember that we're the same. We're both just wayward children that found a home in Team Rocket. We were both victims of bad luck... and I never want to hear you talk to me like I'm nothing." I smiled "You get me?"

Amethyst smirked and took a step towards me "I get you."

So yeah... my relationship with her is a little complicated. Completely forgot to mention that.


	96. Legendary Dissent part 3: Azelf

I'm really impressed at the rate I pumped this chapter out. I think it took about two or three days, which is one of my fastest I think. But don't let that make you think I skimped on the quality this time around through. I haven't had a legendary dissent chapter since chapter 30 (over 60 chapters ago :O) so I thought was time to have one before a major plot point.

I think I'm going to take a little idea from my new faved story, Unintended Consequences, (that you should totally check out by the way) and start to respond to my reviews in the actual story so if any questions are asked everyone who reads the story will get to see my answer.

catlover2976: Thanks for taking the time to review and I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. If you have any criticisms or anything to say about the story feel free to send them my way, I always want to improve.

aggronlv45: Sorry for not responding to your review like I usually do, but I'll do it now. Yeah I guess there are a lot of very strong Pokémon in the story, but I do have Dusk and Ruby (and Dexter and Ferne too) that are a part of the main group and I wouldn't call them average. Hell, Dusk is the daughter of a legendary Pokémon. I see what you mean about the humans not having a larger role in the story too. I've been trying to deal with that but it always comes down to what I want them to do. But don't be scared, they'll be more involved in the next arc I promise you. Oh, and thanks for reviewing. :D

Alright, on to the questions of the chapter: Do you think Azelf is doing the right thing and do what do you think of his stories?

Okay, hope you enjoy it and don't forget to tell me what you think. Reviews are lifeblood to writers :)

* * *

Azelf's point of view

* * *

"You know that you don't have to bring me to your family reunions right Azie?" sounded Shaymin with a smile on her face, "Although I'm flattered that you think of me in such high regard."

I sighed... I had brought Shaymin with me knowing that she would be snarky and knowing that Uxie wouldn't care, but I had underestimated just how much _I _would care. We stood just outside my sister's cavern in Sinnoh and awaited to step in. Mesprit was always an event, but Uxie was always more restrained. She was in a constant state of deep thought. It's funny really; I control willpower and I was always out doing things, Mesprit controls emotion and she was always vibrant, and Uxie controls knowledge and wisdom and she always seemed to operate on a level higher than me.

"So are we going in?" asked my companion.

I sighed "Yeah, come on."

I levitated in as Shaymin simply walked on the floor (Still in her sky form for some reason that Uxie probably knew). As we approached the main cave I could feel her presence and I felt a little better. She was my sister and I felt a connection with her.

Then I spotted her levitating in the middle of the pool of water in her cave. Her eyes were closed like they always were and she seemed to have already been waiting for us "Azelf, Shaymin... I can't say it's a surprise, but I'm happy to welcome you to my home."

Smiling I responded "It's good to see you Uxie... it's been far to long since we last spoke." I motioned to Shaymin "And I'm sorry I had to bring her, but she insisted."

"Stop being lame Azelf." spoke Shaymin with a tone "It's good to finally meet you in person Uxie, I guess the rumors of you never opening your eyes are true."

My sister shook her head "Actually they aren't, every now and then I need to open my eyes for something important."

"Like?" questioned Shaymin.

"Like wiping someone's memory..." spoke the fairy in a peppy tone "But I digress, I've actually wanted to speak with you for some time Azelf... about the task Arceus gave you."

"So you already know about that?" I asked before shrugging "Figures."

"Come now dear brother, give me some credit." replied Uxie with a smile "Also Mesprit told me."

I sighed as I floated closer to her "So, what do you think?"

"I think this job of yours is more complicated than anyone expected." spoke my sister "And I can't say that I envy you. None the less I will offer you my assistance... it's not like I have anything more important to do."

I raised a brow in confusion "Arceus doesn't want you to do anything?"

She shook her head, "No, and to tell you the truth I'm surprised that she only assigned Shaymin to help you."

"Actually." sounded my winged companion "Mew suggested I help Azelf, or at least that's what Celebi said. To tell you the truth I think Arceus' mind is slipping, she's making really weird choices."

"Like what?" I asked in an aggressive tone, I wasn't going to let anyone talk about Arceus in that manner.

Shaymin eyed me "Like only giving you the task of protecting the group of Pokémon she wants to save her. Even with me you still have the dogs standing against you at least. We still don't know what the other legendary Pokémon from Hoenn think about this and if all them decide they want to stage a coup all they have to do is kill the Umbreon."

"And that's why she gave me the job Shaymin." I replied "She knows what I can do if it came to that. I control willpower and if they came at Night and the others in force I'd be able to hold them off until help arrived. Plus with Mew and Mewtwo on our side we can't be stopped."

"Unless Darkrai gets in the mix." spoke my sister in a dark tone "Darkrai is a dark type and if it came down to it I know that he could pose a threat if he wanted to. And if you add on the fact one of his daughters is a close friend of the Umbreon... let's just say that Darkrai has a lot of sway in this situation, more than I would want him to have at least."

Pausing I realized that they had a point. I didn't want to think it, but Arceus was making bizarre choice after bizarre choice and if you add on the fact that I hadn't actually talked to her since after she was hurt... I knew that I wasn't as confident in her as I thought I was. "Look I don't think it'll come to that. All the legendaries have always had their differences and usually it boils down to Mew vs Arceus. But this time they're both on the same side so any resistance doesn't have any chance against their combined might okay?"

"Even with that I'm still always going to be on call Azelf." spoke Uxie as she smiled again "Mesprit too. We're always there if you need us." her head shifted to Shaymin "You too Shaymin, we're all in this together and I don't want to see anyone getting hurt."

I nodded "I appreciate it sis, and that's why I love ya'."

* * *

"So Arceus actually wants to see me?" I asked a little flabbergasted at what I had just been told by Articuno. The maiden of ice had caught Shaymin and I as we were flying back to Kanto (because I can't teleport me and her at the same time) and I was very happy with the news. It was a little weird having a conversation in the middle of the sky where everyone could see us. Some onlookers probably got some nice pictures of us that day.

Articuno nodded "She says that it's urgent too, so urgent that she felt like it was okay to tell me instead of Dialga or Palkia."

Shaymin raised a brow in confusion "What do you mean?"

"It's no secret that Acreus harbors resentment agaist me and my siblings." sounded the avian legendary "We tend to side with Mew when they get into arguments and she's taken that as an insult." she eyed me "No offense Azelf, but I was surpised that she informed me of anything."

I gritted my teeth, of course it wasn't intended but all I've heard from everyone were slights against Arceus. However Articuno wasn't a jerk and I knew she was level headed and didn't want to get into an argument with her. Saving face I smiled and nodded "Thanks for coming all this way to tell me, I owe you a favor."

"Don't worry about it." responded Articuno with a smile "Sorry Shaymin, but Arceus told me that only Azelf was allowed to see her."

Shaymin shrugged "It's whateves', just be sure to stop by when your ready to talk again Azie."

"Azie?" questioned the ice-bird "Oh my gosh that is adorable."

My fists tightened as I frowned "Please don't spread that around, I don't want that to be a nickname or anything." sighing I nodded at Articuno "Thanks again for the info, I'll teleport to the Hall of Origin right now."

As I closed my eyes I pinpointed my destination. Seeing a vison of my wanted location in my head I felt myself moving through Palkia's realm and before I could feel it happen I opened my eyes and found myself looking at Arceus' home.

Looking around I recalled that Arceus had recently redecorated. Her home used to consist of nothing more than a slab of rock miles above the highest mountain in Sinnoh, but at that point it was what could be called a mini-palace. White walls and floors crowded my vision and the flowing greens of the long curtains drew my eye. A short staircase lead to a large bed, a bed fit for a queen with sheets cover coming down from the ceiling to cover it.

Before I could take a step forward the curtains opened and before me sat the Pokémon that I could call my mother. Her white and gold skin shined with unparalleled luster. The gold brace around her body glowed with energy as the emeralds that embroiled it gleamed. Her striking red and green eyes glared down at me in a welcoming matter. Everything about her was so perfect.

"It's been too long Azelf." she said, her soft voice echoing through the small room "How have you been fairing?"

I smiled uncontrollably "I've been fine Arceus, you shouldn't be wasting time on worrying about me."

"Don't say such things my child, I have concern for all those who would take the time to visit me." replied the god Pokémon in a kind tone.

"How have you been, feeling any better?" I asked in a worried tone.

She paused for a moment and then said "My heath's been slowly improving, however I am still very weak." I heard her sigh "But there is a reason that I asked you to come Azelf."

I took a step towards her "I'm here to serve you."

"You know your mission correct? To guide the Umbreon Night and his group to the Elite Four."

I nodded.

"And you also know that the beasts that attacked me and placed me in this state have been targeting said group."

I nodded again.

"Then I have some unfortunate news for you my son, and I cannot say that I am glad to deliver it."

* * *

"Azelf! Hey it's good to see you!" shouted Night as he approached me.

I gave a sad smile "It's... it's good to see you too Night." I had spend all day trying to figure out how to tell Night the news that Arceus had given me. The moment she told me I knew I would need to be alone with him. Around me was the white grass of his subconscious, but unlike the previous times I had been in his mind there was a sky and in the sky stood an ominous black moon surrounded by a gray cloud.

"Sorry if I'm a little loud, just finished training for the gym leader tomorrow. Once we beat him we'll be one step closer to the Elite Four." the Umbreon raised a brow "Is something up? What's wrong?"

I realized I had been looking down at my feet like an idiot and looked up quickly "Oh... it's nothing."

Night gave a little frown "Azelf, come on. Talk to me, I'm all ears."

Gripping my arms I felt like a fool. When a regular Pokémon asks a Legendary one if they need help it would normally be an insult, but with the information that I had it was a small blessing. Combing my mind I sighed and caved in "Night I need to ask you a question."

Satisfied that he had gotten me to open up the Umbreon sat down "Okay, shoot."

Seeing the value of sitting I joined him "I... Night would you do anything if it meant saving the person you loved most in the world?"

"That's a pretty deep question Azelf." replied the dark-type before shrugging "I guess I would."

"Would you hurt another Pokémon?"

"I already have."

"Would you _kill_ another Pokémon?"

He went silent as the weight of the question came down on him. His red and black eyes shifted down the blank grass under him as he said "Azelf what is this about?"

"Would you do it if it was the only way to save the Pokémon that you loved." I asked again.

"I-I don't know."

Smiling I nodded "Good, that's the right answer."

A period of silence lasted about four seconds before Night spoke again "Have you ever killed another Pokémon Azelf?"

I frowned a little, I knew the question was coming but had been hoping that it wouldn't. I sighed "I've killed one Pokémon directly and a couple dozen indirectly."

Night gave a solemn nod and the silence came back again. After a bit I said "Would you like to know more?"

He shrugged "Only if you want me to."

I smiled as I nodded "The one Pokémon was a mistake. It was a long time ago, before humans build these large cities and back when us legendaries lived amongst normal Pokémon. I was visiting my sister, Mesprit, in her cave when I heard the sounds of a struggle. Rushing in I found her being attacked by a gang of Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. Normally she would have destroyed them, but they all knew dark type moves and they had ambushed her. Back then there wasn't such a power gap between us and normal Pokémon too. Seeing that this was before we had developed complicated telepathy she was alone and was dying."

Night nodded.

"All I could sense was that her life force was fading fast. I was afraid I was going to lose her. So in a fit of anger and desperation I launched a powerful and very concentrated psychic blast. It hit one of the hitmonchan in the back of the head and killed it instantly." I paused "The others saw me and saw what I had done to one of their own. The picked up it's body and left the cave. I wouldn't of let them, but I was in utter shock at what I had done."

"How do you know that you killed the Hitmonchan?" asked Night.

I looked at him with a serious expression "I knew, I could feel it."

"What about the indirect ones?" he asked moving on.

This one was much tougher to think about, "The indirect ones come from a single event. One hundred or so years ago Arceus' home could be accessed by any Pokémon. They could just stroll up and talk to her. But as Pokémon started to see what she was and how much power she had they did what all intelligent beings usually do and they got envious. They wanted that power and they were going to take it for themselves. Now back then the legendary Pokémon in the world weren't as united as they are now so when the attack happened most of them looked the other way. The real problem was, whatever the attacking group of Pokémon did it somehow made a barrier around Arceus' home making it imposible for any Pokémon to go in or out for a certain amount of time. Sort of like Protect, except much stronger."

"Okay." spoke Night to show he was paying attention.

"Luckily my sisters and I were visiting her at the time of the attack and we volunteered to stop them. As we went to defend though we soon saw that there were a little under 80 or so attackers and there was no way we were going to be able to stop them. We wanted to prove ourselves to Arceus, to show her that we knew how to use our powers." I paused "You do know the abilities that my siblings and I posses, right Night?"

The Umbreon nodded "Yeah, you control willpower, Uxie conrols wisdom and Mesprit's in control of emotion right?"

I smiled, a little happy that someone knew something about me "Yep. Anyway we started to use those powers... but that was the first time that we had all used them together and we didn't know the kind of hell we could cause." As the memories of that day flooded back I closed my eyes to deal with them "First Uxie used her ability and soon all of the attackers memories were wiped. They didn't know anything anymore and all they had was their base insticts." I paused again as I remembered them standing there looking confused. "Then Mesprit altered their emotions and made them angry, very angry."

I sighed and forced myself to say "And finally I gave them the willpower to kill... and they did. A huge mass of Pokémon from every type just started to kill each other right in front of us. I've never seen bloodshed like it since. And as we watched the fruits of our labor we knew the kind of pain we could cause in the world." I gave an uneasy sigh "The worst part was... after all was said and done there was one left. A Charmander that was no older than you. Out of pity Uxie gave it's memory back and Mesprit calmed it down. The poor thing realized what she had done and fled." I paused "Sometimes I think killing her would have been the merciful thing."

"Wow..." was the first word Night spit out.

"Do you think I made the wrong choice?" I asked my dark-type friend "Because I certainly do."

"But they would have killed you." he said.

"Four Pokémon would have died and dozens would have lived." I said looking down.

"But they weren't legendary Pokémon Azelf, the world needs you more." said Night with a smile "You made the tough choice, but it was also the right one."

Standing up I was ready to give Night the news Arceus had told me "I'm glad you feel that way Night... because I have two things very important to tell you."

The Umbreon stood up with me with a smile and nodded saying "Sure, shoot."

"In the next 24 hours your group will be attack by Raikou." I spoke quickly.

Night's smile faded "Okay... it was going to happen eventually. At least I have you to help right?"

My heart started to beat faster as guilt bled into my body "That's actually the second thing I have to tell you Night." I sighed and relaxed myself. I needed to tell him, not telling him would've been worse.

"Arceus has instructed me to protect her during the attack... meaning that I won't be there to help you fight Raikou tomorrow."

Night's eyes went wide "What?"

"I'm sorry."

"What did you just say?" I could hear his tone getting more and more angry.

"I'm sorry Night."

"Did you just tell me that you can't help us fight a goddamn legendary Pokémon tomorrow because you have to protect Arceus?!" shouted the Umbreon "I can't believe this Azelf. You told me that you had my back!"

I raised my paws in a defensive position "I still do, I'm trying to get some other Legendary Pokémon to come help you."

"You shouldn't have to because you should be there!" he yelled back.

I frowned "Can you please lower your voice?"

"No!" he said with a growl "The lives of my friends are on the line here, my sister's life is on the line. I won't be quiet."

Putting a hand to my forehead I said "This was a mistake."

"Yeah it was a mistake Azelf... it was a mistake ever trusting you to do anything." spat the Umbreon in anger.

"What? All I've been doing since you first met me was help you. Hell I just warned you about an attack that you would have never seen coming!" I shouted back at him.

"Oh thank you oh mighty Azelf for bestowing your knowledge on a lowly Pokémon like me." sounded Night in a furious sarcastic tone, "You know, when I was in the Asylum I thought about you and why you didn't help me in there... don't tell me that you didn't interfere because of Arceus."

When I hesitated to answer he took that as a yes. His anger started to fade and was replaced with what looked like sadness "I really can't believe this Azelf... you do know that without help my group will die, right?"

"Night you know that I'll do everything in my power to help-"

"With the exception of being there." he added on, "Why do you even have to protect Arceus? Can't anyone else do that?"

"Arceus would only trust my siblings and I or Dialga and Palkia to protect her at this point. Both Palkia and Dialga are too busy keeping Giritina in check to do much and I'm being called with my sisters to guard her." I paused "I'm going to try and get you help, I promise. Maybe Mewtwo could help, he was the one that suggested you take this whole thing on in the first place. And if all else fails I can go to Celebi or Mew." I levitated over to the Umbreon and cupped his face in my small hands "Night I promise you right now, I won't let them kill you. I won't be able to be there but I'll still have your back okay?"

Night's red and black eyes looked at me for a couple of seconds before he sighed and smiled "Alight Azelf. I mean, even if help doesn't show I'm still the Umbreon that broke out of the Asylum right?" he laughed a terrifyingly depressing laugh." My group's been through a lot and they won't let some stupid thunder-cat kill me." he pushed his head forward so his forehead was touching mine "And I'm not mad at you, I get it. I'm important, but only if Arceus is alive. Go protect her, I can hold my own."

Smiling wide my emotions got the better of me and I hugged the Umbreon as I said "Thank you for undertstanding Night, I know you can do it."

But in the depths of my mind I knew that he would be fighting an uphill battle, a battle that he could easily lose if I didn't get him help.

_"You're doing the right thing." _were the last words Arceus said to me before I left but in the bowls of my mind I really wasn't sure if those words were true.


	97. Authors note (You should read this!)

Okay, so I'm going to start with the good news first. The Dark Chronicles story is not ending and I'm not stopping work on it. I've been reading the story and I find that I really don't like the first 30 or 40 chapters of the story and I want to start over from the beginning. If this disappoints you, I'm sorry. My writing has gotten better and I want to do it.

Which brings me to the bad news. As you can see this story (as in this actual story titled The Dark Chronicles) will be discontinued. It won't make sense to restart the story and continue it at the same time. The new story is on on my profile, check it out if you want to and tell me what you think.

Thanks for making this story as big as it was guys and gals, I really appreciate it. I hope you'll read my new story, I think you'll like it.


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